My grandson told me the other day that I could win “the world record for the number of nags in one day.” Luckily for me, he was laughing when he said it. I burst out laughing myself. But it got me thinking. I hate people who nag a lot. Am I one of those people? I imagine my family and my coworkers fist pumping now in glee that I’ve finally recognized this personality flaw. Or, to be accurate, that a 10 year old has seen it so clearly.

To put this in perspective, there were two categories of nagging that day. My mother used to say the same thing and it drove me crazy. Because we can’t deny our genes nor the fact of nature vs nurture, I was bothering him to put a long sleeved shirt on. Granted, it’s been subzero out, but we do have heat. It really was about the fact that I was cold. My skin felt like ice. He, however, was not cold, and his skin felt warm. Flashback to my childhood.

Mom : “You need to put on a sweater.”

Me: “But I’m not cold.”

Mom: “I don’t care. Put on a sweater.”

Me: “Why do I have to put on a sweater when you’re the one who’s cold?

Mom: ……

Well let’s just say that it didn’t go well from there and I put on the sweater. She remained cold. Back to the present….this time was different because I knew I was right. “sigh”

The other reason for nagging was that this child is on a medication that makes him not want to eat or drink during the day. So I pressed him to eat a little something and drink as much as possible. Every time I walked by him (okay not EVERY time), I handed him his juice or water and said “DRINK.” I drank water every time he did (okay not EVERY time), thinking that I was making this fun. I guess not.

So what was his conclusion? That I won an award for being the naggiest person in one day in the entire world. Oops.

p.s.  I won the long sleeves and drinking battles. So there.