Saturday, November 15, 2008

Nature or Nurture?

I know where I got my brown hair from and my brown/hazel nearsighted eyes and the big boobs. But where did I get my tendency to procrastinate from? And my lack of enthusiasm for housecleaning? Are we born that way or do we become that way? Do I have a gene for procrastination like I do for straight hair? I seriously don't think that either of my parents were procrastinators. Why am I? Is it something about the birth order?
Sometimes, I wish I had been born a neatnik - not obsessively so, but I do wish that I were more inclined to be a more diligent housekeeper. Was it because I was potty trained too late? Nah - not going for that theory that if you are potty trained early, you'll become an anal neat freak. My brother is living proof. Anyway, it's not that our house is dirty, but we have a lot of stuff and we don't seem to be good about putting it away or tossing it. My mother was definitely more relaxed about housecleaning than her sister. Maybe that's it - being like Mom? But my dad could be kind of obsessive about it - so why am I not like Dad? I think that my father would be horrified if he could see my office! Because I am a creature of habit, I believe that I can work organization into my life if I make it a habit. The problem is making it a habit. Sometimes life and work just get in the way. I was going good for a while there at work where I would file things away promptly and I would take an hour at the end of the day to clear out the clutter on my desk. Then, I got overloaded with work for a while and 'poof' that habit vanished. I'm trying now with the house to be in the habit of doing minor cleaning of some sort each night, to avoid the buildup of major cleaning needs. I just have to keep at it until it becomes a habit and then I think I can do it. And hey! That's another nature or nurture question - why am I such a creature of habit? Was my mom that way? or my dad? or maybe it's that I'm a Virgo? eh - who knows. Saturday's chores are to do the linens and dust. I better get on it.

1 comment:

annie said...

I'll say that being a creature of habit is absolutely a Virgo trait - because that's me!

I inherited my mom's tendency to let stuff pile up - however, I somehow got the gene that makes me toss/shred/file it all more often than she does. It gets to a point - especially on my desk - where it just makes me crabby, and I can't take it anymore!