Funny thing Elise said to me today...

[conuly]

I told her she could have an Andes mint I'd bought for me, but only after her dinner. (And then I passed her a wrapped bit of air first - because I'm mean that way. She did get her mint, two mints, and a handful for tomorrow. She did ask, I just was disinclined to share more than that.)

And I put them on a windowsill for one reason or another. So she tells me "I know where you hide things now, I can just go get them."

Ha. Haha. Hahahahahahaha! HA!

Okay, lemme explain something to all of youse. I was the queen of hiding stuff, especially food, when I was 13. I don't know why, I just prefered to cache my stuff away.

I hid things under both porches, and on top of the fake shelf under our back porch roof, and on windowsills and little ledges above the doors in our house. I stuck food on top of the beams in the attic and basement. I hid stuff in drawers, and under other food in the fridge, and behind stuff in closets. Snacks went behind the radiator, and in little eaves under the table, and under the bathtub.

To this day, my family has no idea where most of my stash-spots were. I don't remember where most of them were, though I'm sure it'd spring to mind if needed.

Elise has no idea what she's talking about, and I found that highly amusing, though I didn't tell her why. No need to give her ideas, she can find her own places.

Now, here's the question, and if you can give me a good answer you'll get some candy corn I've got lying about. (I got it for Jazzy, but I don't know if she's still not tried it. It's fresh this year, anyway.)

Ready? Here goes:

Why on earth did I feel compelled to hide food all over my house? I wasn't starved, or malnourished, or abused in any way I can possibly recall or imagine. So what was up with this?

Comments

[movealongx.livejournal.com]

The only results I could get were that the children were either adopted, had an eating disorder, or witnessed domestic violence. I know I hid things, but that was things that I had stolen. I went through a phase of stealing really stupid things from Wal-mart.

[conuly]

Yeah, and that's not it, either. I don't get it myself!

I never stole anything. Once I accidentally left a store with a bag of hot cheese popcorn without paying for it, it was very crowded, and a block away I realized I still had the quarter, so I had to go back and leave it at the counter.

[movealongx.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'm not sure then.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Comforting to have things you liked around you. If you knew you could get stressed or annoyed or bored at any moment, you knew that there was a break somewhere. Kind of like how some people go inside places and make sure they knew where the doors are, or my best friend likes to know where the bathroom is, or I ALWAYS have to have diet pepsi in the house. A security blanket of sorts. (Ever see parents who have kids who use pacifiers and have them EVERYWHERE?)

[mayhemwench.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, but I used to stash things, too, and I wasn't adopted or eating disordered or anything (at least, that I can remember). I even had this toy barn and the little steeple lifted off, and there was enough space in there for about four Hershey kisses or one crab apple.

I think it may have been because my mom stashed treats and would occasionally share with us, but only if we left the room first, so maybe in my head it was something grown-ups did? I don't know if that might be the answer for you, though.

So glad I am not the only kids who did this, though.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

I did it, too, but I only barely remember it... I faintly recall it giving me a sense of ownership over the item -- that it was mine, only mine, and only *I* could get at it. I had the same kind of feeling about the little boxes I used each year to keep my pens/pencils/erasers/scissors/etc. in at school. It was my own private little area of space.

I get the vague feeling that I didn't otherwise feel all that much ownership over things... Maybe because if it wasn't hidden, I could lose it as "punishment" for some random reason I didn't understand.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

I think the privacy/ownership thing is probably the closest. This also btw relates to why *some* eating disordered people end up that way - it is one area they *can* control. I also think your keeping your room so messy partly stems from a similar urge.

[conuly]

By your, I think Jenn means me.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Maybe you're part squirrel.

More seriously, it doesn't seem like a bad instinct for a creature to have. Just in case, it's useful to have a bit of food hidden about that you can access... and then you can get to it when you want or need it.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was the way you chose to try and get a little privacy or a sense of personal power. You had hiding places: you knew where they were, so you knew something the rest of the household didn't.

Or maybe you've got this dislike of dead space, and food was a convenient packing material.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

This would be my best guess.

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

I did it because if I left my sweets in the snack drawer my dad would eat them. So I had a pyjama case I had some chocolate coins in, and a pot with sherbert things, and so on.

And I've tried candy corn now, and am not especially fond of them. Are they meant to taste of anything but sugar? They're sort of pretty, though :)

[conuly]

Candy corn is supposed to taste like candy corn, so yeah, more than just sugar. It has this odd, hard-to-describe flavor. Lots of people don't like it, though :)

[adina77.livejournal.com]

you had food hidden! Humf! Why do you do that anyways?

[movealongx.livejournal.com]

The only results I could get were that the children were either adopted, had an eating disorder, or witnessed domestic violence. I know I hid things, but that was things that I had stolen. I went through a phase of stealing really stupid things from Wal-mart.

[conuly]

Yeah, and that's not it, either. I don't get it myself!

I never stole anything. Once I accidentally left a store with a bag of hot cheese popcorn without paying for it, it was very crowded, and a block away I realized I still had the quarter, so I had to go back and leave it at the counter.

[movealongx.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'm not sure then.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Comforting to have things you liked around you. If you knew you could get stressed or annoyed or bored at any moment, you knew that there was a break somewhere. Kind of like how some people go inside places and make sure they knew where the doors are, or my best friend likes to know where the bathroom is, or I ALWAYS have to have diet pepsi in the house. A security blanket of sorts. (Ever see parents who have kids who use pacifiers and have them EVERYWHERE?)

[mayhemwench.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, but I used to stash things, too, and I wasn't adopted or eating disordered or anything (at least, that I can remember). I even had this toy barn and the little steeple lifted off, and there was enough space in there for about four Hershey kisses or one crab apple.

I think it may have been because my mom stashed treats and would occasionally share with us, but only if we left the room first, so maybe in my head it was something grown-ups did? I don't know if that might be the answer for you, though.

So glad I am not the only kids who did this, though.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

I did it, too, but I only barely remember it... I faintly recall it giving me a sense of ownership over the item -- that it was mine, only mine, and only *I* could get at it. I had the same kind of feeling about the little boxes I used each year to keep my pens/pencils/erasers/scissors/etc. in at school. It was my own private little area of space.

I get the vague feeling that I didn't otherwise feel all that much ownership over things... Maybe because if it wasn't hidden, I could lose it as "punishment" for some random reason I didn't understand.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

I think the privacy/ownership thing is probably the closest. This also btw relates to why *some* eating disordered people end up that way - it is one area they *can* control. I also think your keeping your room so messy partly stems from a similar urge.

[conuly]

By your, I think Jenn means me.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Maybe you're part squirrel.

More seriously, it doesn't seem like a bad instinct for a creature to have. Just in case, it's useful to have a bit of food hidden about that you can access... and then you can get to it when you want or need it.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was the way you chose to try and get a little privacy or a sense of personal power. You had hiding places: you knew where they were, so you knew something the rest of the household didn't.

Or maybe you've got this dislike of dead space, and food was a convenient packing material.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

This would be my best guess.

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

I did it because if I left my sweets in the snack drawer my dad would eat them. So I had a pyjama case I had some chocolate coins in, and a pot with sherbert things, and so on.

And I've tried candy corn now, and am not especially fond of them. Are they meant to taste of anything but sugar? They're sort of pretty, though :)

[conuly]

Candy corn is supposed to taste like candy corn, so yeah, more than just sugar. It has this odd, hard-to-describe flavor. Lots of people don't like it, though :)

[adina77.livejournal.com]

you had food hidden! Humf! Why do you do that anyways?