Obsessive Compulsive

There's some obsessive compulsive tendencies in my family. I don't believe that any of us are extreme about it where it's affecting our daily lives. But if you look close enough, you'll realize that it's there just the same.

For the most part, it shows itself in routines and repeated phrases.

I crave routine myself, and I'm the first person to admit it. I have a daily routine, and I get frustrated when things don't happen the way I like them to. I'm able to get over it pretty quickly and move on when the routine gets broken, and I think that's probably the biggest difference between me, and others where the problem is more severe.

I'm not a phrase repeater myself, but there are members of my family who repeat things over and over. I won't mention who, because if they ever read this, they'll know who they are. They will even fully admit that they do it. I found that the best way to deal with the repetition is not to respond. When they don't have an audience, they tend not to do it so much.

And then there's Lucian. I've realized that he has inherited the phrase repeater gene. Right now, he's obsessed with trains. Whenever he sees a train, he yells - koo koo! (for choo choo) If I don't respond, he repeats it again and again until I acknowledge that yes, in fact, he has seen a train. And since there are now many, many trains around the house, it seems like he is saying it all day long.

He also does it in reference to my parents. One day, we dropped my Mom off somewhere and he and I got back in the car. The entire way home, he questioned - Gigi? (for Grandma) I'd then say, we just dropped her off. A minute later, he'd ask again - Gigi? I was going crazy. Another time, my sister was in the car driving him and I was following in a separate car. She said he called my name the whole time. Not just calling, but questioning - Baba? Baba? Baba? (his name for me).

Almost everything Lucian says is in the form of a question anyway. Car? Phone? Doggie? Tractor? Plane? Cracker? Wheel? Shoe? Chair? I feel obligated each time to say, yes, Lucian, that is a ______.

And then there's please. My Mom and I thought that it would be good to teach him to say please when he wants something. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, he must say please about four hundred times a day. He'll sit in his high chair and see that I'm getting him something and say - please! please! please! over and over and over again.

I hope that he grows out of this. It's exhausting trying to answer him all day long.