Neat Freak

Could my son get any more like his father? I really don't think so.

Over the last few months it's become obvious that Joseph has yet another one of Richard's personality traits. He's a neat freak. He doesn't like to get dirty. His clothes have to be just so.

Richard can't stand to get a spot on a shirt or a smudge on the couch fabric. He'll obsess over it to the point of exhaustion (as in I am so tired of hearing about it, that I am about to scream). Richard's clothes have to be just perfect before he leaves the house. He re-ties his tie countless times in the mornings, his collars have to be folded perfectly and he uses insane amounts of spray starch to get his clothes the precise crispness he requires.

It's clear that in his little toddler way, Joseph is already exhibiting these habits. The other day he was drawing with a pen and somehow that pen meandered from the paper to his little foot. All of the sudden he starts shrieking and screaming "uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh". He comes running to me terrified and points to the ink marks on his foot. I reassured him it was ok, but his screaming only increased until I finally took him to the bathroom and scrubbed the ink off. Of course, the lightest of marks stained his foot and that was just not tolerable. He kept pointing at it, yelling "No!" until I finally put some socks on him to help him forget about it.

Play-doh and finger painting is of little interest around here. He touches play-doh and makes a disgusted face before throwing it down and walking away. Foods that a normal toddler would eat with his hands, have to be eaten with a fork. Banana slices and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches freak him out if they get on his hands. When eating any of these foods, I have to sit next to him with a washcloth ready to wipes his hands constantly throughout the meal.

Last weekend we had a quick bout of spring weather. It was so nice we actually were able to play in the backyard. Joseph had a great time re-acquainting with his slides and balls after a long winter away. The only problem is that it was still a little wet and muddy. This caused major problems after tumbling down the slide.

Some pictures before sliding down the slide:

Post-slide, as he realizes there is dirt on his hands.

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And his attempt to wipe his hands clean on me (which is also an awesome habit - he won't wipe dirty hands on himself, only on us):

So my advice to everyone reading this would be to buy some stock in spray starch companies in the next few years. We're going to be using even more of it around here before long...