Habits & Routines

[Oma]

Do you have any habits or routines you do all the time that you can’t stop?

I every morning after breakfast, sanitise all the door handles, light switches,Kitchen door handles, taps & remote controls.

Its the first job I do,
It started when B was ill and had no immune system, I know I don’t need to do it anymore but it’s become such a habit I can’t stop.

It doesn’t take long so I can’t see any harm but B said it’s unnecessary now.

I used to do it throughout the day if anyone came but I stopped that.
But I feel the need still to do it on a morning and feel unsettled if I don’t .

Its like on a evening if I use the downstairs loo every-time I pass the back door I have to try the handle,
no matter how many times I pass I give it a little jiggle just to make sure it’s locked 😁
Silly isn’t it.

[Daisy]

Oma, I don't think it's silly at all. Cleaning all the handles etc was essential when B was having treatment, and if you feel better for continuing with that, that's ok, even if perhaps once a week would do! I think it's a kind of security blanket for you, or the equivalent of touching wood, throwing spilt salt over your shoulder, etc. It's more logical than either of those examples, but you know what I mean.

When I come in from a walk with Eva I roll her lead up when really I could just fold it a couple of times and dump it on top of her harness on the shelf. I always put my toothbrush and toothpaste back in exactly the same place in the drawer under the hand basin - I couldn't possibly put them the other way round! I'm sure there are loads more silly illogical routines I have - I'll have to think about it.

[Plantaholic]

After I have locked the back door, I keep trying it to make sure. I am constantly wiping the tops in the kitchen, can’t bear crumbs on them.

[Grauntie Mag]

Definitely the door checking, mainly because I have no memory of doing it because I’m on auto pilot!

[Oma]

GM
I think that’s what it is , you do it automatically so you forget you have locked it don’t you.

Daisy
I know what you mean about the toothbrush and toothpaste,
ours go in the bathroom cabinet and they must be in the same place facing the same way.

Its like tins in the cupboard have to have labels facing out ,
B will chuck them in any old way then I have to go in after and sort it.
Im sure he does it deliberately to annoy me 😁

Plant
Crumbs are annoying especially if I move the toaster and they drop out when I have just cleaned the work tops,

I forgot to add the kettle handle and the water filter jug handle to my list.

When I think of it it could be classed as o c d in a way but I bet we all have little things that has to be done a certain way.

I have a thing about hanging clothes out on the line a certain way , like t-shirts together trousers together and certain coat hangers for certain clothes.

I better stop now or you will all think I’m mad 🤣🤣🤣

[Nanto2girls]

Oma, i'm the same with tins in the cupboard,the labels have to be facing me when i go in the cupboard.
Another thing of mine,which annoys hubby,is when getting up from the settee,i always tidy the cushions.
When hubby was working, when he did a night shift,i always tidied the cushions when i was going to bed.
We have a towel rail in the kitchen, with a towel and a t-towel on.They are folded in half longways,so they both fit on.
The open side has to be facing a certain way.
I think there is a bit of OCD in a lot of us, just not as bad as some people are.

[Oma]

Nanto
Cushions are a bane to OH, I do the same plump them up everytime ,
B throws his on the floor all the time drives me mad.
I make sure they are tidy before we go out and he will say Why? No one is going to see , but I know they tidy that’s what matters .

[Gemini]

I did the door handles ,remotes and anything and everything sanitising daily during the pandemic. Now I just do it every so often, unless one of us has a bug or something.
Oma you are a domestic goddess anyway, add to that all the extra caution needed for B, it's easy to understand your routine.

Nothing wrong with checking doors are locked either.

My silly routine was I had to take my anastrozole (breast cancer drug) before my nightly BP drug. I was very uneasy if I ever took them the other way round by mistake. No medical reason just some superstition in my own mind!

[Lizzie48]

I won't start on my habits and routines! My life is controlled by them, even at the gym I have a routine!

[Daisy]

Nanto, we don't have a towel rail in the kitchen - there's nowhere convenient to have one, so I hang a tea towel and hand towel over the main oven door - they have to be folded lengthways with the hand towel on the left, tea towel on the right! Oh, and tea towels - they have to be Irish linen (glass cloths) and I soak them, wash them, hang out to dry and then iron them. And you all know how diligent I'm not about ironing!!

My bedside table has to be just so! Lamp near the bed, then landline phone, then clock. In front I have a box of tissues with Kindle next to it. At night I move the clock so I can see it in bed and put the Kindle in its place!

I totally agree with having labels of tins facing outwards - otherwise. you might end up with baked beans and custard instead of fruit!!

[Gemini]

Daisy I grab the tea towels off the line when I can and fold them and put them in the drawer to prevent OH ironing them!

[Gemini]

I'm known in my family for only liking tea from a china mug or cup but coffee from a thicker one. No one else minds about their mug but it really matters to me.

[WeeGranny]

Can't think of anything that I do routinely or having things in a certain way! Apart from folding towels lengthways and bath/hand towels then folded into thirds, dishtowels folded in half and definitely not ironed! I don't eat at specific times of the day and I tend to go with the flow as to what happens when. I think it must be to do with me being on my own and not having to worry about anyone else. When OH was alive, I kept more to a routine e.g. shopping on a Friday, but now I just do what I feel like doing when it needs doing e.g. washing done when it needs doing, same with housework! If I fancy going out for the day I'll go!
I sound like a real mucky s***, but I'm not!

[Oma]

WG
That sounds ideal, doing things when you want and when they need doing,
Sometime we can get in a rut Cant we,

When your on your own you play by your rules and no point doing shopping or washing if it’s not necessary is it 😁

[Gemini]

I think that's an ideal way to live when you live alone WG
I