Turning into your Father/Mother

[FreddyKnuckles]

So time for a little self-awareness folks!  This is based on a convo blucas and I had last weekend. 

Like my father:
1. I tell the same story like a million times to every new person that I see even though I just told that story to each new person who has walked up and are still standing there.

2.  I tell the same stupid jokes over and over and over, even those that aren't based on the simpsons.  Like whenever there's a funny or stupid song on the overhead at a store or wherever I'm at I tell whoever I'm with that I called ahead and specifically requested the song for them. 

3.  I drink until I fall asleep every night.

4.  I sometimes get irrationally angry at minor offenses and get all pouty and passive aggressive.

5.  I chew my gum too loudly, and then get offended when people point it out. 

Like my mother:

1.  I am getting FLIGHTY as FUCK

2.  I forget where I leave stuff

3.  I can't keep track of anyone's names

4.  I try to make everyone around me happy even when they're clearly being a dick or in a shitty mood

5.  I leave my shoes wherever I take them off

6.  I never finish the laundry once I start it. 

7.  I constantly make up little names and rhymes and then repeat them all the time.

8.  Related to the above, I say "cutesy" little things and little rhymes all the damn time.  For instance, I just texted my gf "still workin', turducken?"  Like, WTF does that even mean? 

9.  I say home again, home again, jiggity jig every time I arrive at home.

[Greg Nog]

I'd been saying for a while that gardening was the last thing I needed to do before I fully became my father, and now that I'm trying to grow tomatoes this year, I'm just about there. 

I realized, though, that I'll still need to pick up either tennis or racquetball.  Which honestly sounds kind of fun, anyway.  I wish there was a free racquetball court near me.

[peacocks]

5.  I leave my shoes wherever I take them off

I do that!

I am so like my mom it is not even worth making a list anymore. We sound and talk so much alike people used to mistake me for her whenever I answered the phone back when I still lived with her. We look really similar too, in the face. I'm even starting to cry at anything at all. My mom is a leader type person in our buddhist community thing and sometimes she'll get up to talk about something and people have actually made bets on whether she would cry or not because it's so moving or happy or whatever. She always does! I can see it happening. There are so many more things.

As for my dad, I am quite stubborn and will argue a point into the ground. We take it all the way. I also tell really corny jokes.

OH I am like my step dad a little bit in that I make up weird names for things if I can't get a hold of the exact noun, like plodax. I also make little noises when I am just walking around the house doing things. Like little sighs or high pitched "hms" (This was just pointed out to me a few days ago). My cat does this too, copying off me. She does the kitty tongue roll whenever she trots anywhere or jumps up onto anything, or looks at you. It's like having a little jetson's car in my apartment.

[milly balgeary]

Oh Man. Yes, YES, YES.

[FreddyKnuckles]

Oh Man. Yes, YES, YES.

I'm sure having kids only intensifies the situation. 

[clare]

Yeah, you realise it so much more when you have kids. I am my mother in that respect :-( though I like reading to my boys, and do a better job of it than she did. Even she was surprised at how blase i was the other day when the big boy excused himself to go and throw up. I didn't get up. (he spews a lot, he's fine, he's used to it)

My dad talks to himself, and uses substitute words for everyday items on the shopping list. The number of times I've written TP, and stood in the shop wondering aloud "tomato paste? toilet paper? tooth paste?". I look like him and his family, but my boys look like my mum's family more i think, especially E.

[Ignatius]

I am so full of horseshit ideas and I don't notice til someone's like 'what are you talking about adults are totally allowed to have pets' and then I realize that in spite of my best efforts my dad has given me all these weird mean thoughts that nobody else believes. Like I thought for the longest time that beets were just more trouble than they're worth... What the hell!?

[milly balgeary]

Oh Man. Yes, YES, YES.

I'm sure having kids only intensifies the situation. 

this is the closest way to put it into song form ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjA3EbKsl4E

[FreddyKnuckles]

That's totally something Milly sr would say.

[milly balgeary]

hahahah!

that was WELL DONE sir

[dumbfish]

I have my father's short temper/ gift for cursing.

[milly balgeary]

We've noticed Fish, you're the guy who goes to a 4 year old's birthday party and says, "here's your cooking mama ds game you CUNT"

[coldforge]

I'm pretty sure my dad is way cooler than I'll ever be.

[FreddyKnuckles]

I'm pretty sure my dad is way cooler than I'll ever be.

Not much of an accomplishment, really

[YojimboMonkey]

I ain't know shit about my father and I don't give a fuck

My mom can't ever admit when she's wrong and I got a little of that, I'll admit it.

[Ignatius]

I'm definitely becoming more attractive by the day which is my mom's thing.

[FreddyKnuckles]

I'm pretty sure my dad is way cooler than I'll ever be.

Not much of an accomplishment, really

The inability to resist a joke no matter how offensive is also a papa knucks trait

[FreddyKnuckles]

I'm definitely becoming more attractive by the day which is my mom's thing.

Describe your mom's most attractive two features.

[nonotyet]

I have none of my dad's politics but I have some of his awkwardness in social situations, which has been getting better over the years. I have stopped drinking everything but a glass or two of wine with dinner because I actively want to run the fuck in the opposite direction of his alcoholism which in retirement years turns into finding Jesus and giving up drinking but probably still doing it in secret somewhere.

My sister and I look exactly like my mother and it's hard to remember things that she did/said anymore, but I know that we've picked up some of her phrases and we all laugh exactly the same way--her sisters, me and my sister, and her.   

[davy]

I am the younger man version of my mother. Overly-sensitive & emotional, compassionate to a fault, fairly passive-aggressive, very silly, loyal, optimistic...

All in all, though, I think my mom is fantastic, so I'm not complaining. It would be nice to have a few more of my dad's stronger characteristics, his directness, his confidence and work ethic, but most of those went to my sister, whose current annual salary is easily triple what mine is (and I just got a raise). Oh well.

[Em]

Emotional like my mother, but in a quieter way. Stubborn and a bit didactic like my father. Likely to use sarcastic, sometimes hurtful humor like my mother but very compassionate and loyal like dad. Other similarities to my father: single-minded in pursuit of hobbies/interests and a huge soft spot for animals.

Edit: And I also leave my shoes wherever I take them off. That's my dad.

[morgan]

I am a lot like my dad, and I'm pretty okay with that, 'cause he was fantastic in so many ways. Some kind of bad traits that I've picked up from him:

- I am a total book collector. I kind of love this about myself, because I love books, but it also means that I've got three 6' overflowing book cases, and boxes of books are a pain in the ass to move. I sold four boxes of books a couple of months ago, and I still had about 12 left over. After having to go through and get rid of all of my dad's books when he passed away, I realize that I don't want anyone to have to do that for me. It was kind of hellish. They just kept going.
- I'm kind of sort of emotionless in a lot of ways. I don't get super close to people, and I sometimes say things that (while true) probably cross some sort of a social line before I realize that line is there. I'm not as bad about this as he was -- when I'm around my extended family I'll at least pretend to be interested in what they're saying instead of just going to another room and reading a book the way he did. Well...most of the time.

I'm finding that I'm picking up some of my mom's traits and I am fighting against these traits like hell. I love my mom, but I never got along with her very well, and she does a lot of things that drive me absolutely crazy. One thing I've found is that I need to actively try not to guilt trip people, because, well, I learned from the best. And guilt tripping is just how she does things, so it comes out of me without me even realizing it.

[Anne the Man]

I'm hugely extroverted like Mother. I learnt a lot of the way I interact with people from her, and things which I think many people would consider friendly or nice, but I just think of as manners (e.g. don't argue in front of guests, be very grateful for stuff, don't flake out on people, try be modest). She wants me to be more empathetic and turn the other cheek and stuff a lot. Grace and I were discussing the other day that we've both learnt to do this awful self-flagellating kind of thing where we take criticism on board and self-deprecate to mad degrees (from both sides but I think mostly from Mum). It's mostly good as a tool for self-improvement etc, but I've been noticing myself doing it a lot lately, and it's kind of a pain; I mean I've done it to the point at which my friend thinks I have low self-esteem or something, which of course isn't true. I think it comes from both parents being ex-Catholics and somehow managing to pass on the guilt but not the drinking in church :-(

Dad does this thing when upset or annoyed where he sighs really heavily. It used to kinda scare me and Grace (Mum: Well why don't you tell G what's bothering you? Grace/me: No, he'll breathe at me!) because he always sounds really let down. My old flatmate once pointed out that I do the same sigh. Dammit! Also I'm fairly sure when I have kids I'll end up walking faster than them and leaving them behind on the footpath the way Dad did to me.

In terms of good things though, I've inherited huge optimism, open-mindedness, overall calmness and great interest in people and things from both of them. And our politics are very similar. I don't know if they were always like that, but they are now. I also inherited NO depression from Dad, which is awesome!

Dad and I also have quite similar build--tall, don't put on any weight etc. I think we both inherited Mum's smile though; when unsmiling she can look very severe but then her smile lights up her whole face and opens it out. Fortunately she's gloriously happy these days so we see that a lot.

We're a family of writers and such; Dad's been a journalist for 30+ years, Mum's notes on Facebook are kind of awesome and well-written (first opportunity Grace and I have really had to see her writing and we're both charmed by it), Grace is doing a film script, I want to write a book. So that's fun.

I'm sure Grace can think of a bunch more.

[silentsigh89]

I have the same sense of humor as my father in a kind of bullying way. I spend a lot of time convincing people of silly things that aren't true, and take great pleasure in it. I am also stubborn like he was and, well, usually right like he was! I also tend to have his high expectations, and imagine that I will be a strict parent. I can't stomach rudeness, and am the first to tell people that they are behaving inappropriately. This is usually not a good thing.

I inherited my mother's face, which means that every stranger in the world walks up to me and tells me their life story. I also inherited her tendency to react VERY strongly to good news. We both tend to cheer, woo, and exclaim for a few minutes before we actually understand what the person is telling us. After a few years of seeing my friends give their parents big, good news and get very flat reactions, though, I am happy to have the excitable trait.

More than anything, though, the biggest positive way in which I am like my parents is in being a friendly host, I think. The older I get the more I see it in myself. My sister as well! Our house, before things went bad, was where everybody came when they were a bit sad or hungry or had a problem that needed solving, or good news, or wanted to eat a lot of comfort food and then watch movies with no real questions asked. I think I bring that environment with me, and am very, very grateful for that.

[G.C.R]

I am the younger man version of my mother. Overly-sensitive & emotional, compassionate to a fault, fairly passive-aggressive, very silly, loyal, optimistic...

All in all, though, I think my mom is fantastic, so I'm not complaining. It would be nice to have a few more of my dad's stronger characteristics, his directness, his confidence and work ethic, but most of those went to my sister, whose current annual salary is easily triple what mine is (and I just got a raise). Oh well.

Aside from maybe the optimism and the salary thing (I think Anne probably does earn more than me right now at her new job, but not that much more) you could be describing me and my family.
All the women in our family sound alike too - if I answer the phone at mum's its always "Hello Marie!" or "Hello Anne!" - sometimes even if i've actually said my name picking up.