Are My Kids Weirdos?

Ever since I learned (the hard way) all of Cal’s requirements for wearable pants (no strings, no pockets, no jeans, no swishiness, no gathering at the bottom of the legs, no hitting the tops of his feet, and some indeterminate requirements), I periodically revisit the question, “is he weird or is this just typical of kids his age?”  While having to deal with such illogical quirks usually elicits an eye roll (or ten) out of me, I generally conclude that it’s typical.

With each oddball nit that Cal and now Ella have thrown at us, I ask myself that same question and come to that same conclusion – it’s all just typical toddler behavior.

Last weekend, I talked with my dad for a bit on the phone.  He’s a regular reader of my blog, and he mentioned having read one of my recent posts (see http://theleatherkidchronicles.blogspot.com/2014/10/decompressing-on-train.html).  Coming off the week of daily “A Good Thing That Happened” posts, I think he found it hard to read such a downer of a post.  This led to my describing what had happened that morning and then my describing a recent bedtime struggle with Ella, both complete disasters triggered by my kids’ quirks pulled out of thin air.

I described to him the too-light-backpack disaster with Cal and the not-enough-books-to-sleep-with bedtime struggle with Ella, and he was amazed.  He couldn’t relate – from where did these issues that my kids have thrown at us recently come?  He didn’t have to deal with that with Erin (my sister) and me.

This got me thinking… or re-thinking.  Maybe we’re not experiencing typical toddler behavior with some of this stuff.  Maybe my kids are weird.  Let me share some of their noteworthy quirks.

Cal’s shoelaces need to be double-knotted, lay flat and have bows and strands of equal lengths, else he has a meltdown complete with repeated pleas for velcro shoes which I tell him they don’t make in his size.  Is this weird?

Ella won’t wear a shirt, a dress, a jacket – you name it – if it has buttons on it.  Even a single decorative button unnoticeable by the naked eye is enough to qualify it as unwearable by her standards.  Is this weird?

Cal only likes his black-with-gray-heeled mid-calf-length socks and stretches them up and over his calves so much that one can see the skin of his legs through his socks.  What’s worse, he actually wears them this way with Crocs.  I’ve told him he looks like Grandpa Reiter, which he doesn’t understand, of course, and which I leave unexplained.  Unfortunately, I only bought a six-pack of these socks before realizing how perfect he thought they were; and I don’t remember where I got them.  I found what I thought was the same style but all black, which he’ll wear, but not until he’s made me miserable whining about it.  Is it weird that he wears his socks the same way as my dad does?  Is it weird that they have to be black and gray for him to like them?

Ella sleeps with a pile of books – not less than four, but sometimes as many as seven.  If we don’t lay them next to her (or if she doesn’t realize that we did) as she lay in her bed, she anxiously exclaims, “where are my books?!”  She doesn't have the same level of concern with a potentially missing, cuddly stuffed animal.  Is this weird?

If there’s a hood on a jacket and that jacket is on Cal, that hood is up and covering Cal’s head and that jacket is zipped up as far as it can go.  He looks like a Teletubby from the waist up.  This is Cal’s preference.  Is this weird?

Ella is finally cooperating with our requirements for dressing for the Fall weather and wearing leggings (the comfy, stretch-pants kind) underneath her skirts and dresses.  Sometimes she gets them on herself and sometimes she’ll ask for help.  Either way, I’m often dealing with her whining about “fixing” them.  I’ll look for wrinkles or twists in the pants on her legs, not see any and pretend to “fix” them with the hopes that she’s just looking for attention and not actual “fixing.” She proceeds to claim they’re not right and has a near meltdown about it.  Is this weird?

Cal likes to “read” the Lego manuals that come with his Lego sets.  You know, the ones that step you through piecing the Legos together until you’ve pieced together the final vehicle or, in the case of the Chima sets, weird creature contraption?  These are the "books" he chooses to "read" on his own at night just before bedtime without the goal of piecing a set together.  Is this weird?

Ella regularly claims that her socks “hurt.”  Not that they’re crooked… not that they’re twisted… not that they’re bunched up… all things that any reasonable sock perfectionist would describe as the problem.  No, Ella’s socks actually hurt her.  Is this weird?

Neither of my kids will wear a pair of jeans.  Jeans!  I think I can count on one hand the number of times Cal has worn jeans; and Ella never has.  Is this weird?  It's certainly un-American!

And then there was Ella’s shouting, “I love you, Mommy!” from her room at bedtime… repeatedly and increasing in volume and frustration… until I’d respond.  This went on for months and just recently stopped with our completely re-vamped approach to bedtime.  But is it weird that she ever did that?

Or how about the couple of months where Cal would fall asleep on the mid-point landing of our stairs?  Was that weird?

Ella likes to draw “flags” (they look like kites to the experienced eye).  We might have 50 “flag” drawings at home by now, some of which have an impressive mix of colors.  Could she just occasionally draw a flower… or a tree… or a stick figure?  Nope.  Just flags.  Is this weird?

Cal’s still carrying all of those unnecessary books in his backpack, and now Ella is doing it, along with two seemingly randomly selected stuffed animals each day – is this weird?

Ella listens to the Frozen soundtrack at bedtime and has to be the one to turn it on, else she's throwing a fit.  It's played on an iPod, and she's not the most skilled iPod user; so this oftentimes ends in a fight that could be avoided if she would just let us - skilled iPod users - turn it on for her.  She insists on starting her music, a very insignificant step in the bedtime routine.  Is this weird?

Are Cal’s issues with most styles of pants (see the opening of this post) weird?

I think the fact that I ask the question actually answers the question - the Leatherkids are weirdos.  There are days when I really wish that they weren't, which are probably the days when I'm unexpectedly introduced to a new quirk and need to respond in an instant with no preparation or experience with it.  For the most part, though, their weirdness doesn't bother me as I've learned to manage most of it.  Don't like strings on your shorts?  I'll cut them off for you.  Want to carry a backpack full of books?  Okay, but I'm not carrying it.  Want to draw nothing but colorful flags?  Great - I'll frame my favorite and proudly hang it on a wall.

I love my weirdos.