Wednesday, September 5, 2007

ocd, much?

W has become borderline obsessive about things lately. He's always thrived on routine but these new habits are getting a bit out of control.

For instance, if we're putting his mega blocks together, we can't stop until each and every block has been used. If we're doing a puzzle, he won't stop until all of the pieces are put back, which really stinks when there's a piece missing. He won't even stop to accept my praise or to give me high 5's until the puzzle is done. If he's eating, he eats everything in a certain order, and one item at a time.

If we are going into another room, he will "clear" the room we are leaving by putting everything that is near the doorway onto the other side of the doorway. Then he will walk through the doorway and put everything that he just moved back into the room he just left. We can't go anywhere quickly.

He's also obsessed with lining everything up. Everything HAS to be lined up, or he's not happy. If he doesn't line things up, he will stack them on top of each other, or try to. If those things don't stack to his liking, he will make me stack them and God forbid I not be able to stack a toy boat with a curved hull onto a car that has a flat top. What is wrong with me that I can't do that properly?!





On the one hand, it's kind of cute, but on the other, it's baffling. I've never seen a toddler so organized. He knows exactly where everything is and even if he hasn't played with something for 2 weeks, if I ask him where it is, he will be able to go straight to it. However, the price I pay is that at any given moment my house looks like a used toy car lot, and if I happen to mess up the rows, I won't hear the end of it for at least 10 minutes. He's a funny one, that boy of mine...

5 comments:

Nate said...

Eating in a particular order? Sound like anybody else you know?

Margaret said...

Grayson does the EXACT same thing with his cars, trucks, and trains---they are constantly lined up next to each other. He's not quite as obsessive as W, but my DH eats food one thing at a time like W does. Must be a guy thing! LOL! :)
Thinking about you and CB!!!

Anonymous said...

I would like to say that people who eat food one at a time are not necessarily OCD. My husband is just slightly OCD. For example if he is putting on his shoe and he puts his foot in wrong he will take the shoe off his foot and completely start the whole process over again. I have asked him about it and he says that "it just feels wrong."

It sounds like W has a few indications that there might be OCD there, but this early in the game he might just be going through a phase or feeling insecure with daddy gone.

However there has been genetic links to OCD from other disorders (for example Maniac Depressive, ect...).

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/OCD.html

Oh, and if you find a nice used car toy in cherry apple red on your lot that isn't too expensive... I am in the market. *jk*

Anonymous said...

well, supposedly lining things up and organizing things is a sign of readiness for toilet training... so maybe this means that he'll be really easy to train!

Anonymous said...

Just take care of yourself and your beautiful children! We love you LOTS, even when you don't update your blog.

By the way, when you come to CA may I borrow W for a while? I'm trying to clean and organize my cottage and could sure use some help! ;)