ARGH! The meme continues

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As  Jim commented  (http://ofkingsandcarnies.com/) this meme is too much like homework.  But then again, he started it, so he can’t complain; but I can.

Okay Question #4 is three bad habits.

According to whom?
X , my family, friends, children?

And define bad.

Bad as in not good for me? Bad meaning I shouldn’t do it around the children?  Bad because it annoys everyone around me? Or bad as in taboo, evil, nasty and I probably shouldn’t write about it? (Not that I have any of those habits…)

And at what point does something become a habit? And when does it stop being a habit and become a general behavior pattern, or as X would say an ingrained personality trait that can’t be changed ? (The basis of X’s argument as to why he was justified in his affair and why he had to runrunrun far from me-apparently I have a lot of those habits)

Let us look to the  handy dandy world wide  web and google “define habit”:

an established custom; “it was their habit to dine at 7 every evening”

a pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition; “she had a habit twirling the ends of her hair”; “long use had hardened him to it”

a distinctive attire (as the costume of a religious order)

put a habit on

Well if we go with those definitions I have a lot of habits and it’s just up to ME to decide if any of them are bad. I like what Wordsworth said“Habit rules the unreflecting herd” -but does that mean if I have habits I belong to a herd? Would that make me cattle?

To begin we can eliminate habit- as in riding gear. I’ve only ridden a horse once. I never had the little girl horse thing growing up; I didn’t read Black Beauty and long for a pony every Christmas.  My first horse riding experience occured as an adult when I worked for the Girl Scouts. I had visions of riding through the woods carefree with the wind whipping in my hair ala Jane Seymour (not that I have ever had Jane-esque long hair). Wrong. I spent most of my time holding on for dear life while the horse, with a mind of its own, tormented me. Go left I say-he goes right.   Someday I will try again, but I won’t be wearing a habit.

Moving on to the habit with which I am  more familiar. Having watched the Sound of Music a billion times I know all about nuns-or at least singing ones. I played a nun once in a show, so I’ve worn an actual  habit. In college I  once dressed as Mother Teresa for a Halloween party (maybe that’s why I couldn’t get a date that year-who wants to make out with the mother superior?) however, I’ve never wanted to be a nun,I have too many issues with the Catholic church (apologies to my dear Catholic friends). So most likely there  aren’t any habits in my future.

I have a lot of habits of the first kind-established customs. It is my habit to drink a Tab before I open my eyes in the morning. It is my habit to forget to open the garage door before backing out . It is my habit to pretend that the laundry pile isn’t taller than my youngest child.  It is my habit to buy books when I already have too many to read and then to go to the library to check out more.  

I also have a lot of habits of the second kind-pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition. I fidget, a lot. X found that to be a particularly annoying habit, however I have recently learned that others think  it charming. (Others might also lie). I bite my lip when I am concentrating hard on a task and   I have the habit of calling everyone honey, ( which as a newly single woman gets me in trouble sometimes).

I don’t have any habits in that I don’t abuse substances, unless you count drinking wayyyy to much Tab (thank you Mary for that one) or the over-use of Tylenol. I admit, if the bottle says take two every four hours I take four every twenty minutes. I don’t do headaches. And is it a habit if I can’t be alone in the house with Oreos and milk?

So what does that leave me with?

Three bad habits

1. I swear like a sailor as they say. I don’t think that’s  bad in and of itself, but it is  bad because I swear around my children. By the age of four my oldest could spell all the words she “wasn’t ‘posed to say”. My youngest just says them. Definitely bad.

2. I interrupt people. Bad and rude and a sign that I am not as good as listener as I should be.

3. I eat when I am sad/depressed-comfort food that is. (See Oreos and milk) and that is badbadbad for my health. However, I did learn that there is a depth of depression so low at which I don’t eat. Just after the ping pong game with X commenced I stopped eating. Literally. I can’t recommend it but I must say the results looks good on me.

Now for another habit-the nightly ritual-a good book between the sheets. Which reminds me-I need to wash my sheets- damn more laundry…

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