Bad habits are, by nature, hard to kick. I usually peel mine off and throw them in a closet only to forget to lock the door. Without fail those nasty little habits come crawling back out within the week and are latching onto my ankles before I even notice they've broken out.

There are the little ones such as nail biting and forgetting to cap pens or turn off the lights. Then there are those habits that are a bit more serious - impacting both the lives of the perpetrator and the people around him or her, such as losing track of time right before a crucial deadline or mouthing off to the wrong people. I've noticed that it takes a lot more work and energy to dig out of the holes created by my little habits then it does to fall in.

Take this school break, for instance. Everyone in the Seattle School District has been out for about a week and a half (and will be back in school by the time this is published). If I had to venture a guess as to the percentage of students who have completed all of their assigned work at this point in time, I would estimate 9 percent (10 percent just seemed too high).

The rest of us are beginning to realize that we are all too quickly running out of break. I congratulate the small few who have kept themselves on schedule and are thus relaxing over the last few days of freedom. I had it all laid out from the start of break: everything I needed to get done for school, the priority of each assignment, and what I wanted to accomplish outside of school. I still have that list written on my mirror with green whiteboard pen, though I will proudly mention the many check marks in the 'not school' column.

It isn't that I have been just sitting and doing nothing (for the most part). Rather I'm finding that what I want to do takes priority. The way I see it is that I know I'm going to get my work done one way or another and so I simply don't worry about it. I figure that I might as well do what makes me happy as long as that happiness can sustain me through a few days of high-level stress and long hours of work. That isn't the greatest plan, I know, but my mind is stuck in that mode and only something drastic will change it (and even that is questionable).

I get stuck in other modes too. One of my most frequent, much to the delight of my loving parents, is "attitude." Somewhere along the line I got it in my head that mouthing off to my parents is a good idea. I was...what's the word? Oh that's right, ...wrong.

My dad and I can get into some nasty fights, but they never last long. The problem for me is remembering when it's ok or appropriate to open my mouth and when it's best to just shut up and listen.

This is a bad habit. It doesn't denounce me, or anyone, as being a bad person or a naughty child who doesn't know the boundaries. Neither is it a character trait that has been embedded within me since birth. There are times when I feel terrible for some of the things I've said and so, after I've cooled down, I get off my computer and apologize. Yet I never seem to stop. Why?

Behind every fight or fit of anger is a cause, however minor it may be. To prevent these, find out the cause, refrain from doing it, and the irritated person, in turn, need also acknowledge and temper their extreme reactions. Easier said than done (I've tried and failed many times), but it is something to keep in mind.

I've been waiting to outgrow my "teenage" attitude phase, but the longer I wait the more I'm beginning to realize that this isn't something I can just wait out. It isn't going to magically lift from my shoulders when time decides I'm old enough. Just like every other bad habit out there, this is something that I need to kick and lock away on my own.

Kyra-lin Hom writes every other week in this newspaper and can be reached at kl_hom@yahoo.com