habits, idiosyncrasies or addictions?

hab·it: an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.
id·i·o·syn·cra·sy: a characteristic, habit, mannerism, or the like, that is peculiar to an individual.
ad·dic·tion: the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
 
Ok, so that leaf I turned over means that I am revealing to my kids my personality...the good and the bad, the admirable as well as the just plain weird. Some people might call me high maintenance in a few areas, and I am just gonna have to be okay with that.  It's not like I get fake nails, have weekly manis and pedis or massages or get my hair done every month. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with those things on occasion, but I am just not that kind of high maintenance. In fact, I would call my little "habits" or "perceived needs" my idiosyncrasies.  That sounds better than addictions, right, and I think the above definition fits. 
 
3 of my idiosyncrasies involve necessities for a good night's sleep. 

1) I have been listening to Musical Acupuncture on repeat every single night for the past 3 1/2 years to help me fall asleep and fall back to sleep once I wake up. I originally bought it to use occasionally when I was having a bad flare-up and it really helped with pain management. Then, I used it for labor preparation and labor and delivery for my last 3 {natural} births.  After having Lucy, I found that I had listened to that song so much that I had a hard time sleeping without it. Anyone with a newborn waking her up 3 times a night will do whatever she can to make sure she sleeps, so I continued to listen to it...and now close to 4 years later, I still can't wean myself off of it.  Up until about 6 months ago, I actually slept with headphones every night.  Since then, my {incredibly gracious, but sometimes grouchy} husband has let me listen to it on his ipod speaker. At first it woke him up several times a night, but now I think he secretly likes it...even though he makes fun of it on occasion. (sidenote: I never listen to the guided track, just the music.  The guided portion is a little new agey for my tastes, so i avoid it.)


2) I can't sleep without a fan for white noise. Yes, I need both white noise and Musical Acupuncture.  Needing a fan to sleep is pretty common, though, so I don't feel like a freak for this one. My whole family has this same issue, except James. He is going to be one of those grandpas who falls asleep in the middle of a family gathering one day.

3) I can't sleep unless the house is clean, especially the kitchen and living room.  I will not go to bed until the dishwasher is running, and all of the counters are clean. We fill one dishwasher full of dishes per day, run it at night, and James empties it every morning.  When the rotation gets off, it throws the whole day off.

4) Of course I have to put coffee on the list of habits...probably more like addictions, truthfully. I have coffee or latte twice a day everyday.  2 cups in the morning and 1 or 2 in the afternoon during rest time. I love everything about coffee...taste, smell & experience. My favorite drink by far is a straight up grande latte at Starbucks. Now that I have James' stovetop espresso maker and a milk frother, I am set up!

5) This is the embarrassing one, but it probably reveals a lot about my personality{I need to ask my sister, the counselor} and I am trying to be real, right?! So, way back when we were told we would probably NEVER get pregnant on our own {HA!} and I was labeled INFERTILE {double HA!}, I got into the habit of buying pregnancy tests in bulk off of ebay.  You can get like 12 for $1 (click on picture below) Once, I got 100 for $10...score!  So, when we were trying to get pregnant I would start testing early every month and take 1-3 tests a month until it was evident that I was NOT pregnant.  Friends would call me for pg tests because they knew I always had a stash.  Since then, even though we really think we are finished having children and are very careful about it, I still usually take at least 1 test a month, just for kicks.  Why is this fun for me? I don't know...I am a freak, I guess. I take it and imagine how I would feel if it was positive.  How would I tell James? How would he react? For about 3-5 minutes it is a fun little mind game I play with myself. {kids, I never said I wasn't strange...are you really surprised?}

6) Lastly, I have a love affair with calendars and datebooks...planning and scheduling are huge habits in my life. Whenever I feel really stressed out, sometimes I just print of a weekly planning sheet and fill that sucker up from dawn to dusk with what I plan to do each hour of the day.  Whether or not it all actually gets done isn't the point.It physically lowers my blood pressure just to go through the process. (another activity I might want to check with Jeka about)  Also, I have a photographic (memory when I want to use it) so I can wad it up and throw it away, but I will remember everything I planned. I function best when I maintain a schedule, but I am lightening up, remember, so I am still making the schedules, but I am much more flexible with them and I schedule in "down time" too, just to make sure.

I am sure I have more, but I can't think of them right now.  My mom, sister and I joke around a lot about all of our family's idiosyncrasies and how anyone who marries into the family will have a lot of adjusting to do.  I think it is pretty common to have little weirdnesses that make a person unique, right?  I can already see some popping up in my kiddos' behavior.  Just makes me love them even more! I like weird.