Quirk? Obsession?

Notice something about this pile of pencils?

Notice the erasers are down to just about nothing?

They aren't that way because anyone in this house makes enough errors in writing that they need to wear out the erasers on all those pencils.

The erasers are all down to nothing because someone picks them off.

I don't know if it's an obsession, a habit, a quirk, a sensory thing ... or what it is. But Kayla has this thing with erasers. It seems to be that she can't even help it, or isn't aware that she's actively doing it.

She loves to have a pencil. She will hold a pencil in her hand all day if we let her. Just wandering around with a pencil, not actually using it to write, but just holding it. Holding it and then picking at the eraser. Picking, picking, picking until there is nothing left. It's as if she prefers the pencils to be without erasers.

She does the same with any type of eraser that goes on the pencil, any small hand-held eraser too.

If we catch her with a pencil that still has a nice, full, brand-new eraser - unblemished with her picking at it - we are quick to take it away in hopes of salvaging an eraser.

She does her homework with two pencils. The one without an eraser and one with an eraser that she only uses when I'm sitting at the table with her and just letting her erase her work; and then she has to promptly switch back to using the pencil without an eraser.

As we're doing her work and she needs the eraser I try to point out that's why she shouldn't pick off the erasers - because she needs to use one when she makes mistakes and if she picks them off she doesn't have one to erase with!

What odd obsessions, quirks, or habits do your kids have?