My parents' bathroom is divided -- the toilet and shower are in a small room and then the sink is in in an anteroom. From when we moved in in 1986 until about 2005 the trash can was always right next to the toilet. Then my mom moved it out to the anteroom for whatever reason. Despite it having been out there for several years now, I swear to God, 95% of the times that I go to throw something away in that bathroom I first make a move toward the toilet before remembering the trash can isn't there any more and changing course. I find it interesting that I just can't seem to shake the conditioning of nearly 20 years.

Even stranger than that the following: I lived here with my dog, Baby, for seven years before moving to Oklahoma. Her food and water dish was always kept on the kitchen floor in front of the microwave cart. When my friend would come over with her baby, or anyone else would stop by with a little one, we'd have to put the food and water up to keep the kid from playing in it. It attracted them like magnets. Sometimes I wouldn't think of it in time and we'd catch whomever it was playing in the water.

Now, Baby has been dead 9 years now, I haven't lived in this house in nearly 12 years, and that friend's baby? She's now 16. And yet, on more than one occasion, I have caught one of my kids heading that direction out of the corner of my eye and "Uh-oh, the dog dish!" has flashed through my brain, along with a brief inkling that I should be jumping up to move it.

So am I the only one stuck in the past? Has anyone else any habits that were so ingrained that you can't entirely un-train yourself, even now?