hmm I am not a perfectionist.  My mom is a neatnic and thinks I should vacuum everyday cuz I have a bunny and called me a lousy housekeeper.  I had to vacuum everynite where Cotton’s pen was.  

Mom said you going to have to vacuum everyday with that dark rug.  I said I am NOT vacuuming everyday.  Moms place it spotless and she has loads of gadgets.  A whole bunch of shelves covering one wall.  Kitchen gadgets and other gadgets.  

To me a neatnic spotless house is a bit of perfectionism.  ICK. Drives me nuts.  Why have coasters all over the living room if you can’t drink anything in the living room?    I mean really

I used to be a neatnic too  even folded my underwear.  hahahaha.   Nope I outgrew it I guess.  

I’m the first to admit I have OCD, but feel it has lessened over the years? I’m still paranoid about certain things, like having a clean kitchen bench top, and if I’m doing the folding, even though I know it’s clean, I have to wipe it over again cause I can’t fold ‘clean’ clothes on it if I don’t. The floors? NA! Gave up on those a while back….. but I NEVER walk around barefooted EVER! even if the floors are clean. I know that’s my OCD. I thought that was perfectionism as well? Cause I was always accused of being ‘perfect’! I didn’t think to realize there was a difference between the two? But in the next breath, I’m the first to acknowledge and ‘apologise’ when I’m wrong. (I think you know that when I mixed your name up with Jersey’s). I don’t mind and actually prefer that people know I’m not perfect. Because life is too short, I like to think it’s nothing that conceding you made a mistake and a “I’m sorry” if required can’t rectify, so we can all get on with the good stuff in life again and not have to worry (I hate worrying!). And if you make out you are perfect I ‘think’ that just puts more burden/stress on yourself to always be right. A good example is – offering a suggestion on BB thinking you are helping someone, and if I’m wrong I’d like to think I can be corrected (so I know better too) without being made to feel bad when my intentions are good. I hope what I wrote made sense (sorry if it doesn’t, lol!), but for some reason I am struggling a bit on how to explain how I feel about this subject and I’m not sure why? Another example, when I spill something, like you did in cooking class – I am already angry at myself and know it was my fault for whatever reason, I don’t need someone else going crook at me and making me feel stupid and worse than I already do! I wonder if that’s why you try to hide it? Or is it really cause you don’t want others to know your ‘not’ perfect? I think it depends on how you yourself decipher the word perfectionism? I hope my post helps you Kate with your interest in psychology and maybe just in general? (I’m super curious/interested too). Cheers.

Oooh yes. I also have OCD.
Nevermind. Not OCD. CDO. It’s in alphabetical order. As it should be.
Yep, I’m a perfectionist.

What would I do without you Amanda – laughing SO hard!!!!!!

Edit to ADD – Actually, that’s another reason why I love admitting to my faults….. there is nothing funnier than making fun and laughing at yourself and those who can do the same.  I just realised I laughed at Amanda for making fun of herself and her OCD (sorry, CDO).

I LOVE IT!  

The good thing about laughing at yourself, as most people have enough sense not to hurt their own feelings, LOL.
You are just too much fun.

I usually try to hide my mistakes so I don’t get in trouble :~) I am a big old worry wart though and hope my mistakes don’t come back to haunt me.

I was OCD when I was younger but I think I grew out of that.

I definitely don’t try to be a perfectionist though – that is just too stressful and I worry too much as it is. I do try hard to keep my house clean though and don’t like messy untidy homes – maybe that’s an OCD thing but I’ve heard that hoarders are also OCD. And I cannot lie, I find hoarders terribly fascinating and hope I never ever become one – I’ve had my hoarding tendency’s though in the past and am working on living a less stressful, less cluttered life – I really want to live more in the moment and I don’t think hoarders do that….I am kind of addicted to the Hoarders TV shows….motivates me in a weird way to start getting rid of stuff and cleaning my home.

@Sarita ~ I watched one of those hoarders shows once and my husband made me stop because I started throwing EVERYTHNG away! Like you it made me want to clean. The whole house. Twice.

I am a perfectionist in some aspects of my life like crocheting, knitting and definitely scrapbooking. I have been known to take out and redo or start over entire blankets because I found a mistake somewhere or it just didn’t look right to me. Scrapbooking is the same…I would sit for hours trying to figure out how to fix a page that wasn’t right. I do like things in their place though. It drives me crazy when my husband empties the dishwasher because he just finds an open spot in the cupboard and throws it in. It also drives me crazy when the counters in the kitchen are cluttered. They don’t even have to be dirty just the stuff bothers me. Like if he forgets to put the popcorn popper away or the toaster. One at a time is not so bad but he is not so good at picking up after himself (in all fairness, I am not either in the rest of the house but the kitchen is the only place it bothers me) so it tends to happen lots. Pretty sure the kitchen thing stems from only having one tiny countertop in our kitchen from the time I was little until we moved here two years ago. (My parents moved out and rented me the house instead of the usual child moving out type situation) I a not a perfectionist when it comes to other things especially cleaning. Hate to clean. My floors definitely go a day or two extra without a broom and vacuum. I don’t remember the last time I dusted!

Just reading your replies Kate, and Sarita mentioned she hides stuff cause she doesn’t want to get into trouble – simular to me, not wanting someone to go crook at me and make me feel worse than I do. The difference is, Sarita may worry till (if?) she gets caught out – I’d rather admit that I’m not perfect and that I make mistakes and get the ridicule over & done with to save myself any future worry. As I said, I hate worrying, so try to eliminate any future concerns ASAP. And if I can take the spotlight off the actual grievance by making a joke at my expense – so be it, especially if I sleep better that night.
And Sarita, don’t ever be made to feel bad for going overboard with de-cluttering after watching a hoarder programme on TV – I found it inspirational, just what I needed. I didn’t go overboard, just got rid of anything I knew I didn’t use and wouldn’t use. Threw out the dust collector’s and just kept photo frames and anything that I treasured/enjoyed like my candles. And anything I wasn’t sure about, my hubby packed away in the garage, so I get a second chance, but this time next year he will dump it.
I’m with Lolabuns, I have better things to spend my time on (like BB, lol) than dusting and I found it was depressing me (not healthy) and I felt overwhelmed at all that had to be done to keep everything clean all the time….. I’m still not finished in my house, but am almost there and I feel free – even my hubby said the bedroom looked huge! and all I did was throw out what we don’t use and put what we do use in it’s place. And now I’m not daunted at housework (I still HATE housework), but I feel I can get through it now (in a day, not a week).
PS – My hubby is not allowed to empty the dishwasher Lolabuns (and I really hate that), but it’s easier for me to do it and put it away properly then to double handle. And I’m a bugger for when I move the dining table to vacuum and mop – when I move it back it HAS to line up with the window – my hubby can spend hours teasing me by moving it an inch either way! When I divorce him, he better not ask WHY??? Ha ha hah ha ha…….

LOL – AndHenry I do admit it but I was just saying I hide mistakes not because I am a perfectionist but because I wouldn’t want to get caught :~) I do like to try to sleep at night so I’d rather admit mistakes than worry about that – I do worry about other things though and that is what unfortunately keeps me awake at night….boo to that.

I doubt I can be considered a perfectionist, but I do obsess over silly things. For starters I get annoyed if my roommate put dishes/cookware in the wrong area of the dishwasher and cabinets/drawers. We’ve been living together for 2 yrs now, should’ve figured it out by now! I’ve also been guilty of rearranging things in the fridge to my liking and to make room for my stuff haha.