Five Reasons I Am Turning Into My Mother

Tell me you’ve had it too.

That moment when you open your mouth to say something, and your mother comes out.

It’s not a slow morphing – it’s a sudden, ohmygoodness what just happened to me? kind of thing. I know I’m not alone in this. Many of my mom friends have confessed their own metamorphosis to me. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, either. Just sort of shocking, you know? I spent most of my teenage years swearing I would never “be like my mom”, but I have no choice in the matter. Nature is taking over.

Here are my most apparent signs:

1. My morning coffee ritual.

I went years without drinking one cup of coffee. I liked the smell, hated the taste. And then our third child in three years was born, and it was no longer an option. I became a coffee drinker. With one incredibly early riser (between 4:30 and 5 a.m. every day!), and a baby who was up all hours of the night to nurse, I decided one morning that taste be damned, I was going to drink coffee. Oh, and what sweet nectar it is to me now. My mom was a regular coffee drinker throughout my childhood, and I know she treasured her moments of quiet bliss in the morning with her hot cup of liquid gold just as I treasure mine now. Mmmmmmm. Coffee.

2. “Because I said so.”

Oh Lord, forgive me. I swore up and down I would never say this to my children. It was so infuriating to hear as a kid, that the reason I couldn’t do/get/eat what I wanted was because my mom said no. But I admit, there are times when this has come out of my mouth, in the exact same tone and inflection of my mother’s voice. In fact, I’m going to go so far as to say that I am channeling my mother through my body when I say it, because it makes me feel less guilty that way.

3. My sweet ride. We all say it – “I’ll NEVER drive a minivan!”.

And then, the sliding back doors, third row seating, and extra distance between the driver’s seat and the children bickering become items on our dream car wish list. My mother drove a minivan from the time I was seven years old all the way until after I graduated college. And sure, it’s not a sexy whip, but I’ve grown to love my minivan in a way I never thought possible.

4. Saturday morning chores.

Every kid loves Saturday morning, although I daresay it was more fun when I was a kid, what with Saturday morning cartoons instead of Nick Junior On Demand any day of the week. But one thing I remember from when I was young, was that Saturday was housework day. I would moan and groan when my mother told us that we had to clean our rooms before we got to go anywhere. And it sure was annoying when she would vacuum her way through the living room when us kids were piled on the couch trying to watch Captain Planet. It has become my secret joy to do the bulk of my housework on Saturday mornings when I’m not working. How weird is that?!

5. My goofy sense of fun.

Mom didn’t “play” with us a lot, but when she did it was with a silly sense of adventure that made the most mundane things seem like a trip to an amusement park. She would get an idea in her head and we were all on board for the ride. From impromptu talent shows to goofy games of Dare, we had so much fun together as kids, as evidenced by our trips down memory lane whenever we are all together. I’m pretty sure she passed down this silly gene to me, as I love coming up with silly games and jokes with my children. There may come a time when they roll their eyes at me and pretend that they don’t enjoy it, but I’m banking on the fact that they will look back at those memories with fondness someday.

How about you? Are you turning into your mother too?