I am turning 30 very soon and it constantly makes me think how old I am. Ugh. However, there are many habits that I have that actually make me feel quite young. Almost too young though. How young you ask? Well about 4 years old. You see, I have three habits that my friends and family make fun of me about because they are not those of a late-twenty year old, or any adult of any age. These are habits that I guess I never really grew out of. I don't see them as odd habits. In fact, they often define me and people who I am not close with often find these out pretty quickly. My close friends and family know about them already and although sometimes make fun of me about them (and sometimes get irritated by them), understand that if I when I don't get my way regarding these, I can become a raging, crying bitch.
So, what are my toddler habits?
1) I go to bed extremely early. On a weeknight, if I am not asleep by 9:30-10:00, I get very frustrated and upset. I am usually in bed and watching TV by 8, so I can relax a bit before I actually hit the hay. If I fall asleep after 10:30 I am not a happy camper the following morning. On nights when I go out and happen to stay up super late (hello 3 am!), it will ruin my sleep cycle the entire week unless I make up for it (i.e going to bed at like 7 the next night which I have been known to do on many occasions.) It sucks even more because I am not a napper. This childhood gift never stuck with me and I am not someone who can just lay down to take a nap. I so wish I could though. I am super envious of those people that can. But I know myself enough to go to bed early and although I get made fun of, most of my friends respect it and are even a little jealous of it sometimes.
2) I get cranky if I don't eat every few hours. I love to eat. I love food. I also know that it fuels my body. For someone as active as I am, food is very necessary. If I don't eat something every 2-3 hours I get very cranky. I also get a headache and can get very snippy. My mom and I like to call it "being hangry." Hungry-angry. Get it? Get it? I am not a pleasant person to be around if I am hungry. I will bitch, moan, and complain until I get a snack. I am not proud of this, but I can't help it; it's not fun being light-headed and hungry.
Additionally, I also eat dinner early. This may age me to be about 65, but I usually eat dinner at like 5:30-6:00. To some, especially in NYC, that is "Early Bird" early, but since I go to bed so early, I like it like that. Since my friends eat dinner at a normal time, if we go out to eat, I usually have to have what we call a little "pre-dinner" so I can make it to the meal. When I go to Florida and visit my grandparents, they eat dinner at like 8:00 and I am miserable waiting to eat that late. Because they know I get hangry, they make sure I have a big snack in the late afternoon to tide me over and keep me nice.
3) I have to pee ALL the time. And yes, I have been tested for diabetes. Many time. I don't have it. And yes, I have actually tried the "Gotta go...Gotta go...Gotta go right now" medicine. It didn't work. It seems I just drink an obscene about of water and it goes right through me. And I don't even touch caffeine because of its diuretic effect on my bladder. Good thing I am naturally perky (must be all that sleep!) that I don't need it. And lets not even discuss my urination habits when I am drink beer because its plain embarrassing. It becomes an issue once I break that seal for the first time. But hey, its part of my charm.
One plus of having a pea-sized bladder, is that I know many of the clean places to pee all over the city. I have no shame walking into a bar, restaurant, hotel, etc... and pretending I am eating/staying there and walk right to where I believe the bathroom is. If it's not where I think it is, I ask. Most people think Starbucks are good places to pee. I try to avoid those since a lot of homeless people use it to "shower" or shoot up. I have, however, had to pee so bad one time (in 2004), I went in a Starbucks that had a line 6 people long and started to cry because I had to pee so bad and they let me go ahead of everyone. They probably thought I was nuts and if I'd cry over having to go to the bathroom, I might be capable of doing something strange in my time of need, but I had to go that bad.
Overall, these child-like habits aren't as bad as others that I could have stuck with but they still sometimes can be annoying to myself and my friends and family. I know my body enough to try not to make them an issue and most people close to me know of my needs. They know not to call past 10, they know to ask if I need a snack, and they know to ask me if I have to pee before we leave to go somewhere. As I get older, I have already accepted these things about myself a long time ago and decided that instead of changing them (because that won't happen), I just need to be more flexible.
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