Am I Turning Into My Mother?

Is My Daughter Turning Into Me? My mother tells a story that when I was about four years old I snuck into the kitchen, moved a chair, climbed onto the counter, and snuck some Mallowmar cookies (a graham cracker with a marshmallow on top – all covered in chocolate). According to my mother, she only discovered this because when she went to give me a bath, my tummy was covered in chocolate. Guess I thought hiding them in the elastic waistband of my pants was a good idea instead of risking getting caught eating them at the scene of the crime.

Today I learned that my youngest daughter who is four years old pulled a similar trick. My daughter’s nanny relayed a story where my youngest snuck some candy hearts (left over from last February’s Valentine’s day) and tucked them into the waistband of her shorts and was caught red-bellied!

I couldn’t help but laugh, at least my daughter had the common sense to choose something that wouldn’t make quite as much of a mess on her tummy and clothes! When I told my story to my daughter, she replied “I want to be just like Mommy.”

When I think about what shapes who we are, we cannot help but be influenced by our parents. The only thing that gives me hope is that we learn to emulate the traits and behaviors that we admire in our parents, and learn from those we don’t. (Mom – if you’re reading this, there are very few that don’t fall into the former category – so not to worry!)