I have a minor problem.

[conuly]

Minor is a key word here, but it's starting to bother me. Most of the time, I am chewing on something. My fingers, or my cheeks, or my tongue, or junk food. I must've spent a fortune on junk food in the last year. It helps me to think, and stay calm in stressful situations and all that. Anyway, anyway, a while ago Ana, being all cute, handed me one of her teething toys, so I nibbled for a second, because she was trying to "feed" me (she's a cute kid, but a bit strange... are most one-year-olds that strange?) and ended up thinking "hm... that's not so bad" which immediately crystallized my ongoing vague thoughts into a firm "Something. Needs. To Be. Done."

So, I've done some research and some thought and came up with these options:

1. Get something to chew on.
Pros: Simple
Cons: Buying sight unseen

2. Steal one of Ana's teethers
Pros: Cheaper, even if I buy it
Cons: C'mon, it looks stupid. Really. And robbing my niece? LOW.

3. Do nothing, keep things the way they are right now
Pros: Saves money in the short run, in the long run if I cut out the junk food
Cons: I'm tired of waking up with a sore mouth? It looks silly in class when my fingers have tooth marks all over them?

4. Stop chewing on things.
Pros: Definitely the cheapest solution
Cons: I don't want to do this. Somehow, I don't see it happening easily, and, frankly, on the list of self-improvement things, this doesn't rate very highly. It's not as though I'm biting other people or sucking their blood....


[Poll #288730]

Thanks for reading and/or helping. This will possibly be posted over in asperger, so we'll see what they have to say too. Definitely it seems like an autistic thing.

Comments

[fjorab-teke.livejournal.com]

You're not alone...I guess I finally just removed myself from temptations of things to chew and caught myself in action enough to kill off a good deal of my childhood "mouthing" habits. The nail biting, though GREATLY reduced, has stuck around on a small but still notable level. I too have bitten my nails and the skin around them for as long as I've had teeth (or at least before I can remember). It's tough to break habits you've had your whole life, ESPECIALLY when different stressful circumstances make them worse. I have a history with metal "mouth toys" too, but nothing like what a dentist would do. I'd find all sorts of annoying things to do with a retainer! *LOL*

I hope your travels are fun though. It sounds exciting! I hope you don't stress out TOO much.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

It's tough to break habits you've had your whole life,

Particularly when your Dad has them too ;0) (Though I think he's stopped a bit since I left home. No connection that I know of, just Mum cracking down on him doing it, or coming up with a solution or something ;0)

I hope your travels are fun though. It sounds exciting! I hope you don't stress out TOO much.

It's very exciting :0) I'm mostly stressing about the actual travelling bit, because at each destination I'll be with someone I know. And then I'm just stressy about the bits in Germany and Austria - in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden I'm confident enough about the level of English spoken, but I don't speak German at all (I'm meant to be picking a bit up.) Eek! Scary language I don't speak!