A new game for the Ellen DeGeneres show

OCD or Under 3?

Really, if I didn’t know it was normal behavior, I’d think it wasn’t normal behavior.

First, there is the ever-popular Move a Group of Objects From One Location to Another game, in which, as you may have surmised, the toddler transfers a group of refrigerator magnets, boxes of paper clips, baby blankets or Christmas tree ornaments from the refrigerator, office drawer, play area or Christmas tree to an undisclosed location, frequently the same wicker basket. There are some rules involved in this subtle game—
There must be no more than one object per hand at any time.
No adults may help or interfere.
If there is already something in the wicker basket, it will be unceremoniously dumped out as the game commences.
The game ends when the player decides it ends, or when she is offered a cookie, in another room.

Then there is the Baby Night-Night game, in which Baby (a doll, named Baby, of course) is put to bed, then put to bed again. And again. And again. Baby may sleep anywhere the Player chooses to lay her down, and apparently, can sleep through anything, even being plunked down on cold hard tile floors. Many (and I can’t emphasize this enough), MANY blankets are required for this game. Variations include Doggie Night-Night and Purple Bear Night-Night.

If these aren’t OCDesque enough, allow me to bring out the Big Gun; the Eye Obsession. We have this conversation AT LEAST 5 times a day, beginning first thing in the morning, during the diaper change, practically verbatim:

Ainslie: Mommy. Mommy.
Me: Yes, sweetie?
Ainslie: Eyes?
Me: Yes. Mommy has eyes.
Ainslie: Daddy eyes?
Me: Yes, sweetie, Daddy has eyes.
Ainslie: Lily eyes?
Me: Yes. Lily has eyes.
Ainslie: Mike eyes?
Me: Yes. Mike has eyes.
Ainslie: Melmeh eyes?
Me: yes, Elmo has nice big eyes.
Ainslie: Neenee (what she calls herself) eyes?
Me: Yes, Ainslie, you have pretty blue eyes. Everyone has eyes.
Ainslie: Goo Doggie (Blue) eyes?
Me: Yes, Blue Doggie has eyes.
Ainslie: Ilma (Wilma, the cat) eyes?
Me: Yes. What about ears? Does Lily have ears?
Ainslie: Lily ears. Da. (She speaks Russian. Da=Yes) Eyes? Eyes?
Yes, it’s funny, yes, it’s normal, but how much would it scar her if I screamed, “MOMMY CAN’T TALK ABOUT EYES ANY MORE TODAY?!
She knows all of her body parts, by the way.

So c’mon Ellen, bring me your best adult OCD’ers. Bring ‘em on.