I have been reading a thread in AIBU and started to wonder if the things that I thought were a bit obsessive (in a Monica from Friends) kind of way are or could be in the future, "proper" OCD.
I like my house to be clean but not excessively so. I clean my house once a fortnight properly (upstairs one week, downstairs the next) but in between, just a wipe over when something needs it.
I do like it tidy and like my cupboards to be tidy though. Each morning I go around each room upstairs and check in every cupboard, drawer quickly to see if everything is straight, make the bed and check that the room is tidy. After I have done this, nobody except me goes in the room again until bedtime. If I go in, I count how many thing I have done in my head, 1 open door, 2 open wardrobe, 3 take out box of hair bobbles. I then put the hair bobble away and count back, 2 put box back, 1 shut wardrobe, 0 shut door so I know it is still tidy. This is just automatic now and just say 1,2,3,2,1,0 in my head. I do the downstairs like this once the kids go to bed but don't do the counting thing. I always thought it made sense because if the cupboards never get messy, then there won't be that awful job of sorting the wardrobes out ever.
I can however, not do it (if I am rushing out in a morning) and it doesn't drive me to distraction or make me worried or stressed.
I also worry about my health (in a serious health way) i.e. If I have a pain etc I always think the worst and constantly google and think I am dying. I also can't stand sick. If someone says they have been sick, or feels sick or if the kids have a bug, I get stressed that I will get it. I can take care of the kids and clean up after them but constantly wash my hands.
I do the hand thing a lot too. I wash them all the time. Not a massive thorough clean but after touching a lot of things. Paranoid about raw meat, bins, anything poo related but especially my cats. My hands look like I'm 70 years old. This started when I was pg with DC1.
I was a nightmare when pg. Hand washing, militant about taking shoes off at the door, wouldn't touch my cats without hand washing afterwards, was strict about washing all fruit, peeling veg, not eating anything that was even hinted might not be great to eat while pg. Stressed if I ate something I wasn't supposed to by accident such as certain herbs (even though they said it probably would be ok in cooking), wouldn't eat any ham, pink meat. Ate only vegetarian meals when out or going to a take away as I didn't trust them to cook it right.
After my shower or bath on a night I put my slippers on before putting them on the floor and I don't take them off at all until bed as I don't want to put my feet on the floor and then put them into bed. I don't have a problem the whole rest of the day and walk around without slippers on, put them on the couch etc.
It all just seems a bit hit and miss. On one hand, I know the things I do are weird but it doesn't really affect my life in the sense of stopping me doing things. I don't feel depressed at all and don't think of the tidying thing once its been done or if it isn't done for some reason in the morning and tidy later on. I have 3 dc and we go out, I have 2 small part-time jobs, eat out, visit friends, visit foreign places. I have a very active social life. As I say, my home isn't sparkling as DH is often saying I should clean more, not less. But then on the other hand, sometimes I drives myself mad and wish I could be less tidy. I would get more done if I didn't have to spend ages properly folding everything before putting it away, ironing everything etc and although the dc don't care at the moment, there will come a day soon (DD is nearly 10), when she wants to spend time in her bedroom and won't want me in there straightening things out. She is really untidy so I know it will be a mess.
I don't want to use the term lightly and don't say I am a bit OCD (even though others do) but now I am worried that I am downplaying it.