Sunday, November 8, 2015

Forks and Spoons


I suppose I am a little OCDC, and maybe I got it from my dad. He hated eating outside and never would drink from plastic or the abhorred aluminum glasses that were popular when I was a kid. For me, food MUST be salted before peppered in that order, and I can’t dress or bathe until the night’s bed is made first.

When we were first married, hubby and I used a gift of tableware received at the wedding. The utensils were sturdy beyond belief, but they were of such plain design they could have been steel rods with tines. My grandmother had given me a box of tableware before the wedding that was rather pretty, but it was much lighter weight. I put it back fearing it would never stand up to DH’s daily use. (In the beginning, he used spoons like shovels digging into cartons of hard ice cream bending spoons into yoga poses!)

Somewhere along the line I wanted a pretty set of silver for special occasions. I bought a moderately priced set of heavy and ornate food tools. The pieces are beautiful and do set a nice table, but of course, I never put them in the dishwasher so they only come out for the special meals they were intended for in the beginning. I also bought another set of table service after I grew so tired of our daily pieces. The new set was sturdy too but with a bit of a fan design on the handles.

Over the years, I trained DH to use an ice cream scoop, that forks shouldn’t be left on end tables after a snack, and knives were not to be hauled outside for any reason. The kids learned the same. A couple of years ago, I realized I still had the unused table service my grandmother gave me. It was not fancy; she had saved Betty Crocker coupons for years and filled a box with an eight place setting of silver plated service for me. The years had passed and I decided I’d better use it.

I love this service and I put it in the kitchen drawer with the other daily pieces. Now I had a drawer full of silverware and never ran short of a fork or a knife. However, I liked it so well I always wanted to use it over the other pieces on a simple meal or even a bowl of cereal for one. DH laughs at my peculiarity, the OC had reared its head again! If the wrong fork or spoon sits at my place, I have to change it out. I always want the pieces my grandmother gave me. I long for not only the look, but the feel of the fork in my hand, the right length, the right weight.

DH usually doesn’t care what fork he uses, but he too has met forks he didn’t like. His sisters gave his mother a set of pewter-like table service one year for Christmas. It was a colonial pattern and the forks had only three prongs which were longer than most. DH hated those prongs saying they stuck him in the throat with each bite, an over exaggeration I’m sure. He asked me to find an older fork somewhere if I set the table there.

Brush the teeth before the bath, drinking vessels on the table for meals always must be glass, bone china for tea if possible, always make sure the closet doors are completely closed and never ajar, put the left shoe on first, and a few other minor rituals make up the day. How about you?


Any OCDC behaviors in your life? 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to but was unable to train my hubs as well as yours so most of my little peculiarities have gone by the board.

Sioux Roslawski said...

Well, the closest I get is when I see things stapled on a bulletin board, and the staples are in the middle of someone's face (if it's a photograph of a person on the bulletin board), or if the staples are all at different angles to each other (not parallel or perpendicular).

I WISH I had more OCD in me. Perhaps my life would not be as cluttered or chaotic...

Elephant's Child said...

I like to drink my cups of tea out of the same mug. If it means washing it half a dozen times a day, so beit.
And it matters to me how washing is hung on the line. To the extent I will redo it if my partner has hung things 'wrong'.

Linda O'Connell said...

We have a lot in common. I have a favorite lightweight fork. He couldn't care less. Same mug for tea. Give hubby any mug from frilly to silly. Left shoe first. Hope you have a great day tomorrow.

Merlesworld said...

I must always make my bed, some of my guests don't so I shut the door so I don't see a unmade bed, often when I stay in a motel if alone I will made my bed.
Merle..............

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

My mother had silverware that she kept for special occasions, but about the time I hit 16 she pulled it out for everyday use. She said it was silly to have something nice and only use it twice a year. I've wondered the same thing myself lately. I have a cupboard full of gorgeous china that is rarely used and a box of silver dinnerware. The truth is, given a choice, I'd rather stick with my colorful Fiestaware! So in downsizing, something I hope we do soon, I'll offer up the good stuff to my kids and settle in with the less expensive stuff just because I like it. :) And, yes, I definitely have my rituals and preferences. My morning coffee, made with beans I grind fresh for the French press, is my honored a.m. ritual. I'm so precise with it---4 T. of coffee beans, ground for 8 seconds, steeped for 4.5 minutes and, yes, I use a timer for the grinding and brewing---that my family teases me all the time. But that's a small price to pay for a perfect cup of morning java!

Lynn said...

Oh, I have rituals, but I am flexible and figure that helps me not to be too out of whack when something comes up.