Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

For the past several months I have been seeing a counselor due to my OCD getting a little out of hand. I’ve always been a clean freak and everything in my house has to be in ITS place. This isn’t anything new for me. It has been brought to my attention that the cleaning is not the only OCD tendency I have. The way I think and hold on to things is part of it as well.

I’ve been concerned that my OCD is rubbing off on Jake. It started out as being kind of funny. I mean, the kid cleans EVERYTHING. He moves rugs to sweep or mop under them. He follows me around with his “popper” when I vacuum. Any towel or tissue is used to wipe the tile floor, or window sill or carpet or whatever. Yeah, part of it may be him mimicking my actions, but I’m starting to get really worried about him.

Last night, Bill and I were on the couch watching tv and Jake was playing with his toys. We have two big pillows that rest in front of our ottoman. Jake moved the pillows, vacuumed underneath them with his “popper” and then put the pillows back. One of the pillow corners was sticking out just a hair more than normal. Jake proceeded to stuff it back to its original state and then went on about his business. It made me tear up, really.

Is it really possible for a 19 month old kid to have OCD? I guess I need to do a little more research on the topic. And, being that I have OCD, I will obsess about this!

Scary Ol' Santa

It's that time of year again...and I love it! Jake, however, not so much. We went to visit Santa yesterday. For the past couple of weeks I've been trying to prepare Jake. We've talked about Santa. We've looked at pictures of Santa. We've played with out little stuffed Santa, and given him lots of hugs and kisses. None of it worked. Jake thought Santa was fun from afar, but when it came time to get close, he was having no part of that. Last year Jake did great. Of course, he was only 7 months old and didn't have a choice, but he thought Santa's beard was cool. I guess this year the beard was scary.

Bill certainly didn't want to sit in Santa's lap with Jake, so I got volunteered. I was just going to kneel beside Santa and hold Jake for a picture. It didn't quite work out that way. I looked over at Santa patting his leg and saying, "here, Mom, you sit here." I haven't sat on Santa's lap in years and it wasn't quite what I remember. It was a bit awkward, but we were able to get a picture of Jake smiling, which is what counts. Don't you just love the flip flops?!