Weekend Assignment #96: Becoming Your Parents

Weekend Assignment #96: Becoming Your Parents :

Weekend Assignment #96: "For ladies: Name an incident when you thought: '"OMG I AM my mother! For guys: Same with your father!"

Extra credit: Weekend Assignment #96: "For ladies: Name an incident when you thought: '"OMG I AM my mother! For guys: Same with your father!"

Extra credit: What did you parents do when you told them about it?

Oh dear..this is a sensitive subject.. 

Growing up, I remember being tardy for school a lot, and  for everything else, including doctor and dentist appointments, weddings, school events, even to church.  I was even late to my own baptism.  The priest almost didn't baptize me because my parents didn't realize that they had to be in the church with the other people; no they were outside waiting to be "called" in.  I also remember sitting in the car along with my other siblings, with enormous ribbons in my hair and tight fancy church shoes, waiting for my mother to get inside the car to leave.  My father would usually be pacing back in forth in front of the car, or sit in the car with us, feeling very annoyed.  From the inside of the car, we could hear my mother still vacuuming inside.  My mother refused to leave the house without it being spotless, no matter where we should go.  You would think we were expecting a visit from the Queen of England herself. 

Anyways, as frightening as it may seem, I myself have caught myself more than once emerged in a cleaning frenzy of my own.  On one occasion, years ago, I was busily cleaning our little condo from top to ceiling.  It was really getting on my the husband's nerves (this is the first husband, mind you--everything I did got on his nerves).  I was busy cleaning for the last two days straight because my sister-inlaw was coming to stay with us for awhile to visit.  She was flying down from the Azores that evening.  I had never met the woman, and of course, I wanted to leave a good impression on her.  She was a lot older that I was, and I was nervous about her visit.  I knew that she would be going back to the Azores to report to the rest of the family about me and my wife and motherly skills.  (This was back when I REALLY cared about appearances and what others thought of me).  I wanted her to report to my mother inlaw (whom I had never met either) that I was a good housewife I guess.  At the same time, I was deathly afraid that because of her being so much older than I was, (she was old enough to be my mother) that she would take it upon herself to run the household while she was there. 

Well, as I was passing the vacuum for the 2nd time in the baby's room, my then husband snapped and unplugged the vacuum cleaner and threw it aside.  "The house is clean enough!!" he shouted.  I shuddered for I realized for the first time that I may have been turning into my mother. 

As for my sister-inlaw, she didn't take over the house, in fact, I would come home many an afternoon, with the baby, bags of groceries at hand, only to see her lying on the couch watching T.V.  The only thing she liked to take over in the kitchen was she liked to grate cheese. 

Extra credit: What did you parents do when you told them about it? 

I didn't tell my mother----according to her a house can never be clean enough of course, especially when company is coming.