I'm turning into my mother...and I *think* it's in a good way.

We've all thought it, at one time or another.  Sometimes it's a good thing and sometimes, we'd think it's not such a good thing.

Particularly if you are a parent, you have surely found yourself saying to or doing something with your child and it dawns on you - your mother used to do/say the exact same thing to you.  I remember, with great clarity, when I once told Man-Child that if he was so bored that I had a list of "things" (chores) to keep him busy.

And while, I now agree in theory, when I was a child this infuriated me beyond belief every time she said it.  As a child, I quickly learned not to complain that I was bored otherwise I would find myself dusting the baseboards.  I have to give it to her, she followed through.

At any rate, this morning as I was reading the paper I came across two little snippets of information that I thought would be interesting for two of my friends.  I quickly found the one article online and texted it to one friend and then headed over to the cubicle next door to hand the other friend the actual article.

And then it hit me.  I'm turning into my mother.

Way back in the days before the internet my mother would clip articles she thought I needed to see - this started around the time I was in high school and continued into my early adulthood before she died.

As a teen, I suffered through it, sullenly reading the article and silently thinking, "WHY is she making me read this drivel?"  As a young woman, I thought "Well, this is interesting but it is information I could probably live without."  As a young mother, I teetered between the two thought processes and occasionally thought, "Wow!  I'm really glad I read this."

Then we moved to North Carolina - and although she called, she wasn't big on actually sending the articles so she would just mention them.  And I listened.  Sometimes, I admit, with limited patience.

It's been years since I'd thought of those carefully clipped articles that would be waiting for me.

Until today, when I digitally "clipped" an article and sent it and then actually clipped another article and handed it over.

And I realized what was actually behind all of those articles...love and caring.  She looked at those articles and thought of me.  Just as I'd looked at these two articles this morning and thought of my friends.

And passed along the articles...and the love.

And all of this reminiscing brings to mind something else my mother used to say..."If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all!"  But THAT is another post for another day...

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After typing this, I began to wonder if I'd ever posted anything else about turning into my mother.  So I did a search of my blog.  The first thing I learned is that apparently, I've been at this blogging thing since 2009!!!  Who knew?  It feels like only yesterday.  The second thing I learned...I DID post about turning into my mother before.  The third thing I discovered...sifting through your archives is amazing.  I remembered things I'd forgotten, I remembered the voice I had back then and the carelessness about posting.  I was also confronted with the differences of blogging today vs. then.  Then there was many more comments; today this is less common.  Back then there was a lot of focus on "fun" and "awards".  Today it seems to be more about "sponsorship."  Not that there is anything wrong with that; but I kinda miss the old days - the fun and the comments.  Any chance we can bring that back?