Quirks

If you are involved in the world of blogging for any length of time, sooner or later you will be invited to participate in a meme. A meme, according to the trusty source Wikipedia, is any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation. In the blogging world, you can pass along fun challenges, quizzes, and "getting to know you" questions as a way of fostering further connections and providing, frankly, sometimes very welcome fodder for blog posts. This is great when you're a little tapped out, like I was yesterday, and just can't come up with anything particularly meaningful to write about. That yucky stomach bug that visited us this weekend came back with a one-two punch on Monday night, and I spent Tuesday teaching abbreviated classes, sitting in a long meeting in a hot room, and driving the kids around, all the while hoping against hope that I wouldn't keel over on the spot.

A longtime blogging friend of mine invited me to participate in a meme about quirkiness. I am often intrigued by the notion of quirkiness, because I think we all have quirks--each and every one of us. Some people have more quirks than others, and these quirks can be so pervasive and rigid that they border on the obsessive-compulsive, or the just plain strange. Some kids are extremely quirky, like L., some not so much, like T. (although she has to pull her socks all the way up to her knees before she'll let you put her shoes on). But I would challenge anyone to admit that they don't have a single quirk at all; even if you think you don't have quirks, just thinking you're above all that makes you, well, a little quirky.

Here are the rules to the meme:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog .

3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

5. Let each random person know he or she has been tagged by leaving a comment on his/her website.

And here, without further ado, are my six quirks:

1. I never finish a drink all the way to the bottom. I don't know why, but I always leave about an inch of liquid in the bottom of my cup. I also can't drink a cup of water if there's something floating in it, even if I rationally know what we always tell our kids: "It all goes in your stomach and mixes up, anyway."

2. If I spill even the tiniest bit of salt I have to compulsively pick it up and toss it over my left shoulder. (Clearly being raised in a superstitious household sticks with you your whole life.)

3. I can't stand it if my kids' noses are in the least bit stuffy. You can imagine that when my kids were both infants, our nose suction bulb thingy got a rigorous workout every night. I have also been known to stand over T., wads of tissues in hand, and threaten her with only one bedtime story if she doesn't blow her nose IMMEDIATELY.

4. I get nervous when I have to make phone calls. Even if I'm just calling to make an appointment, I have to semi-rehearse what I'm going to say before I say it.

5. I can't sit down and relax in a room in my house unless I've cleaned/straightened it first. Then, of course, by the time I'm done with that it's usually time to cook dinner, take the kids somewhere, or fold laundry, and the window of opportunity for settling back on the couch has firmly closed.

6. I have to sleep with thick, fuzzy, striped socks on as soon as October hits. I just can't go to sleep without them, even if I end up kicking them off sometime during the night.

I tag...all of you reading this! Leave one of your quirkiest quirks in the comments section, and if you blog, go forth and post your own quirks. If you don't, stop and think about your quirks--relish them, share them with your kids, and if you think you don't have any quirks, think again.