A dad’s eccentricities often destroys the peace at home

In my house, not a single day passes when I don’t get blamed by children for destroying the peace at home. Before my children came into my life, I used to consider myself a perfect human being. But after their arrival life changed for me. I realised that I have too many flaws and now it is too late to rectify those. And often these flaws trigger arguments at home destroying the peace.

Several factors trigger an atomic explosion destroying the peace at home. A daily argument between me and my spouse on petty issues is one of the biggest trigger points that irks my children. Their instant reaction is “You guys you have started it again! Why is it that whenever we enter your room, we always find you fighting and arguing over petty matters”. It is difficult explaining to them that a healthy argument is a sign of a healthy democracy. Look at our Parliament. There are hardly any constructive discussions that take place among its 545 members. Most of the time the house is full of the sound of cacophony arising out of heated arguments, blame games, and protests. My kids are quiet hajir jawabs. They quickly retort that the Parliament meets only a few times a year but in your bedroom, it seems the war happens daily.

My candid nature often triggers a war of words destroying the peace at home

Whenever we have guests arriving for a party at home I am told to practice restraint. My spouse would request me not to be too candid with them. But few habits die hard and my candid nature often leads me into trouble. To start with I will reveal the entire menu to the guests from snacks to the main course. I would even reveal to them who is behind every dish – my spouse or my help.

If we have got a new furnishing item like a new sofa set or a dining table, I would reveal the negotiated price that we paid. This not only irks my spouse but also my children.  They ask me why can’t I just tell the guests the shelf price. What is the need to share with everybody how much we got it for?

Atithi tum kab jayoge

Being a practitioner of early to bed and early to rise I am not very comfortable with late-night parties. Any gathering at my place that stretches into midnight raises my anxiety levels. My family members are well aware of my trait. They start warning me in advance that I should not ask any questions that will make the guests feel uncomfortable. My favorite one is asking the ladies how far they stay and how much travel time it will take them to reach back. In a few cases, if the guests are not showing signs of leaving, I normally get up from my seat clearing the plates from the table as if helping my spouse with her post-party chores. But the indication to the guest is very clear.

In case the farewell signs still don’t work my last resort is to tie a leash to my dog and take him out for a walk. This is a clear sign that guys the party is over. It’s a separate issue that the next morning I have to attend a class of etiquettes conducted in different sessions by my family members (read spouse and daughter). The only takeaway for me is that my actions the previous evening disturbed the peace at home.

The Mary Kondo character disturbs the peace at home.

Let me introduce Mary Kondo to you people. Mary Kondo is a Japanese organizing consultant who advises on how to tidy up the home. She shows you how to unclutter your home by discarding things that are not in use. One can watch a complete series on her on Netflix. Well in my house I am the Mary Kondo of the house and because of my tidying eccentricities, I end up disturbing the peace at home.

A dad with OCD

My spouse says that I have OCD and that should get treated for that. From keeping the bed cover wrinkle-free to shoes and sandals properly organized on the bottom shelf of the wardrobe, I exhibit many such characteristics that often disturb the peace at home. My wardrobe looks more like a shelf of a Shoppers Stop or Lifestyle. The shirts are arranged in different rows – formal, casual, and T-shirts. The trousers in the hanger proudly display their proper crease. On the other hand, the handkerchiefs and socks often convey to me that they have never been treated with so much respect. The shoes and sandals are neatly stacked on the bottom shelf. It not only gives them a lot of breathing space but also avoids the claustrophobic feeling.

There are times when my wife knitting a new crochet design leaves her paraphernalia on the bed to attend to a phone call. And guess what? Once she reenters the room, she is unable to find it as her OCD husband has put it back in place. The mushroom cloud smoke that arises after this episode is thicker than even the one in the movie Oppenheimer.

However, with age, my eccentricity about cleanliness has come down. But even today it triggers a war of words with my spouse disturbing the peace at home.

The frank nature that at times makes me the Frankenstein of the family

One quality of mine that can qualify both as a strength and a weakness is that I can’t hold on to secrets. And most of the time it disturbs the peace at home. Any family member who shares any secrets with me has to do it at his own risk because there is nothing that I can keep to myself. My spouse and my daughter are very well aware of my shortcoming. They will always talk in a hush-hush tone whenever I am around. This often irritates me as my point of view is why do we need to hide things?

A family gossip is the last to reach me as everybody is scared that I will reveal it to the victim who is at the center of the gossip. Information such as a love affair in my family of a distant niece or nephew or a family relative who recently got a pink slip or a grapevine about one of our neighbors reaches me the last.

The fun of revealing a secret

My kids are so very scared of this particular trait that they will attach a condition before sharing the information with me. The condition is that I will not reveal the information to anybody. My son who just completed his post-graduation in the USA landed an engineering job with a large US firm recently. After the first round of congratulations over the phone I was told to hold the information. Also, I was instructed not to post anything on social media. But being my son he has the same genes as me. One day my cousin called to congratulate me on his job. I checked with him on how he got the information and he told me that my son had shared it with both his sons.

I was happy that this time I was not the one responsible for disturbing the peace at home.

Read more such stories on my blog by clicking on the following link:

https://www.theconartistalok.in

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