What's your weirdest habit?

[mumbunz24]

Just starting this thread for a bit of fun—I’ve got this weird habit of chatting to my plants as if they’re listening. Anyone else got any quirky habits?

(I'm glad to see the fun threads are back - sometimes on Mumsnet there's a drought of them.)

I can't stand trainer liners - if I want bare ankles, I wear trainers without socks. I've always loved the way it feels: I do it to feel "relaxed" on boring-but-necessary trips out, such as the supermarket. I know I'm in the minority here, though.

I pick up litter, especially recyclables.

I still get really excited about my birthday and Christmas presents, and DH and I have a ritual to double my excitement. When he wraps them, he does it in front of me, because I love hearing him do it; and I wish I could peep at what they are, but there's a small problem - I'm blindfolded! It's silly, but it makes us both very happy.

13 is my perfect volume for TVs!

I say goodnight to mine. Probably should be bringing it coffee or something it might inspire it to spend so much time (money) with mechanics.

It's a weird thing to do so not totally off topic at least

SpeccyDoodler · 23/09/2024 22:33

I count stairs. Can tell you how many there are for nearly anywhere I go regularly as I’ve done it so often. Very satisfying to count backwards as I go downstairs and realise I’ve remembered it right!”

Me too! I know I’m at home in a place when I know how many stairs each flight has. Don’t need to turn the light on if I go down for a drink during the night, know the number of each of the twisty flights 😁

It's just a fun thread. I reckon we shouldn't judge people for their habits; it's a safe space to share things we usually wouldn't discuss openly.

Ooh, I've got one!
I was thinking about it the other day.
I become obsessed with certain words and constantly repeat them in my head.

At the moment it is Celebrimbor from Tolkien's LOTR. He's an important character in LOTR Rings of Power.

In the past it has been Boutros Boutros Ghali, secretary General of the United Nations. That's the most long lasting, others just last a few hours or days.
I am rereading Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings and some of the characters there like Tintaglia and Kettricken join my lexicon for a few days.

I am a very anxious person and I hide it pretty well. I think this is one of my coping strategies.

I also leave a mouthful of food on my plate (never Sunday dinner though). My DW gets quite WTF about that but now we have the dog it's not so bad, he's my excuse.

Obviously I sing to said dog, I thought it was a prerequisite of having a dog in your life!

I have a hot water bottle every night except in the hottest of weather, and I mean the very hottest!
My mother was exactly the same.

Wanders off, muttering Celebrimbor...

I become obsessed with certain words and constantly repeat them in my head
I do that, sometimes it drives me nuts and I have to force myself not to think about it. I do the same thing with songs and bits of dialogue from films or TV shows.

Yes. This.

It feels a little like having an ear worm.

Escalators 🙄

If I'm about to travel up on a long one and there's no one ahead of me I make myself walk up. Thing is and this is where the number 4 enters the madness. I take 4 steps up then another 4 and keep repeating but I HAVE to reach the top with an even number of sets of 4. So it usually starts with 4 x 4 which is my ideal but risky because don't forget those fffkkin stairs are moving upwards which means when I get past the half way up mark I need to very quickly judge if I can do another 4 x 4 before I need to step off.

It's quite stressful and a personal challenge plus I don't expect anyone here to have a clue what I'm on about but it makes perfect sense to ME 👍🫤

I sniff up and down my forearm whenever I'm anxious, or sometimes just because ...

Set my alarm to wake up to an odd number eg, 07.37 or 08.11. I have no idea why

Never finish my drinks. The last bit of juice or tea has to coat the bottom of the cup/glass

I talk to my plants too. They get a thank you for new leaves and a well done if they're having a bit of a growth spurt. I like to think I'm a supportive plant parent.

If I have one wet hand, I have to wet the other one and then dry them both. I can't stand the feeling of holding a towel in my dry hand while I dry my wet one.

Also count stairs, and "chops" if I'm chopping vegetables etc.

If ever I'm sitting in a way that one leg is hanging free, rather than resting on the floor, I find myself drawing the outline of a comma with my free foot. I really have to concentrate to stop myself doing it.

If I'm trying to get to sleep, I sometimes think of a part of a word e.g. - ate, and then go through every letter, well, consonant in the alphabet to see if it will make a proper word. So, bate - 👍cate - 👎 date - 👍etc. Actually, that's probably not weird, just dull and methodical, which is what's needed.

I also like to tear my toenails off (to trim them, not ripping the whole nail off, obviously) rather than using scissors.

I have to eat meals in a certain order. Vegetables first, then the protein part, lastly the carbs. Always in that order.

If I'm listening to my own music, not just the radio, I can't stop a song mid way through. The house would have to be on fire, someone in danger, or my DH come to tell me that someone we knew had died, something really serious. Anything else can wait. Sometimes I'll be needing the loo, and have to cross my legs till the songs finished. I also also listen to albums in their entirety, but I will pause between songs if need be.

I always pick my scabs off that I have, I just can't leave them be. 😳

Volume level on anything can only end in 0, 5 or an even number.

when I’m in the car, I keep myself occupied by looking at a license plate and changing all the letters to numbers (A=1, B=2, C=3 etc. and with double digits I add them together, so k isn’t 11, but 2) and then I work from left to right adding or subtracting each number and trying to end up with zero. I feel inordinately pleased when it works.

I talk to my dogs almost constantly while out walking them.
When one was a puppy, he needed picked up here and there on longer walks. There's still one specific bit he always jumps up at to be lifted up, even though he's 6 now. It's just bad timing that it's on a busy road and on a bridge overlooking a railway line. He loves looking over that bit of the wall....
But there's been a few times someone has worryingly said to me 'I thought you were going to throw him over!' and I have to tell them that he's just a nosey dog who likes to look for the train coming 🙈 probably look like a psycho but he loves it, so its worth it!

When I get petrol it must be same numbers.
E.g. £40.40. or £55.55

I count patterns in ceiling coving, on curtains and tiles. Memorise phone numbers and car number plates from the last 50 years.
I see faces in patterns a lot.