Things I Swore I Would Never Say/Do

This post is dedicated to my mom. While growing up we definitely had our ups and downs, filled with typical mom-daughter arguments along with other serious fights that stemmed from frustration and inability to effectively communicate with one another. I remember many times, I found myself engaging in major eye rolling after such arguments and saying to myself "I will NEVER say that or do that when I have kids." Oh, little did I know back then.

Fast forward a few years and a few birthdays later and I find myself saying/doing the following things I swore I would never say/do. Mom, I'm not sure if you realize or know that these things used to annoy me as much as they did and I'm not sure if you realize that you said them but now, I find myself laughing every. time. I hear myself saying/doing these things. So without further a due: the things I SWORE I would NEVER say/do:

"Everything has a home/place."- My mom used to say this to me about my room and I will admit, it drove me absolutely batty. Growing up, our house was always clean. It was always presentable so if an unexpected visitor would stop by, we wouldn't be scrambling around trying to tidy up quick. My mom still keeps her house this way and it's something I try to emulate now. Sometimes successfully and other times, not so much. But one thing she would always remind me is that everything should have its place/home and if it didn't, well, golly we better find it a home or get rid of it! Now, I have a child who is a hoarder. This kid "collects"  junk random things and puts it all in the storage shelf in her bed. From trinkets and small toys to.... socks. What? Weird, I know. And of course, everything is in a specific place and before bed we have to organize our collection JUST so. She even says to me, "look mom, it's my collection." Yes, Sophia, I see your junk collection. I find myself, all too often, trailing behind her, constantly picking up the most random odds and ends of things, reminding her that everything has a home and if she doesn't find a home for it RIGHT NOW, in the trash it goes. Sound familiar? Yeaaaah...

"Do you have to poop?" Whenever I would complain that my stomach would hurt, one of the first things my mom would ask me is, "Have you gone to the bathroom lately? Maybe you have to poop." I don't think I have to say much else about this one.

Redoing/Recleaning: When I was growing up and started to help with chores around the house, a common argument you could hear was when my mom would stop me and either make me redo something or re-do it herself. I frequently mumbled beneath my breath "Do it yourself then!" (sorry mom! :)) Now, admittedly, I have a very certain way of cleaning and how I want things to be done and I have to sometimes literally slap my own hand when I get the urge to "fix" something Will or Sophia have already done.

"If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right the first time." This sort of goes with the above action. I am sorry mom but at the time, when you would say this to me, I wanted to pull my hair out. But now, I get it, I understand. I feel your pain. But I do cringe inside a little every time I hear myself telling this to Will.  It's something I know I need to loosen up a little about and know that just because it's not the way I would do it, that's it not necessarily the wrong way either. And I apologize in advance to Sophia and Saidey because I can guarantee I will say it again to them at some point in their life.

So, when you think about all those things you thought you would NEVER do to your kids- those are the very things you most likely will find yourself doing. I guess life is funny like that. As I have gotten older, the things that I used to get mad at my Mom for, now that I am a mom, I see things in a whole different light. And I wholeheartedly apologize for giving her hell during those times. I get it now.