my mother - Boston Moms Blog

My mother was visiting recently, helping with the kids during the period when camp had ended but school had yet to begin. My youngest bumped her head and started to cry. At the exact same time, in the exact same tone, my mom and I both said, “Oh, goodness” to her. This is not the first time I’ve noticed myself doing or saying something just as my mom would. It seems I have turned into my mother! Here are three ways I find myself mimicking my mom.

Our choice of words

“Oh, goodness” is just one example of the things I say that are just like my mom. My daughters are firm about choosing their own clothes, and I tell them exactly what my mom used to tell me. “I don’t care what you wear, as long as you are clean and neat.” Living in New England rather than the West Coast, I need to add “seasonally appropriate.” Nonetheless, I’ve made my mom’s phrase my own. I also find myself telling my kids, “When mom gets cold, you put on a sweater.” Another mom gem from my own childhood.

Our media habits

Growing up, my mom would listen to one of two radio stations in the car — the classic rock channel or NPR. I used to BEG her to change it to the local pop station, often to no avail. I’m sure you can guess that now I’m the one listening to “the oldies” (the ’80s station) or to NPR. And just like I did, my own daughter BEGS me to turn it to Top 40. Similarly, I’ve now taken to watching PBS on television. If my kids were old enough to watch TV at night, I’m sure I would get the same whines of, “This is boring!” that I used to give.

Our clothing choices

When I was a teenager, my mom bought herself a pair of French jeans. They were $100, which was A LOT to spend on jeans at the time. It was a very considered purchase on her part, and she made sure I knew it. Those jeans are back in style today, and were my mom and I the same size, I could wear them and be considered trendy. I can’t, but I notice myself gravitating toward more conservative pieces since I became a mom — higher waistlines, longer hemlines, and flat shoes. And I wonder what else my mom had in her closet back then that I might like to poach today.

The first time I heard myself using one of my mom’s phrases, I cringed a little. But I realize now, why wouldn’t I want to be like my mother? I had a great childhood. And my mom is a person I really like today as an adult. I can only hope I’m as good a mother to my children as she was and is. So the next time I put on a sweater and tell my kids to do the same, I’ll smile.

Because I’m just like my mom.

 

Rachel Wilson
Rachel is a native of the West Coast and didn't know that her straight hair could frizz until she made the move East! After earning a Master of Environmental Management from Yale, she moved to Boston for a job opportunity and, on her first Saturday night in the city, met the man who would become her husband. They married in 2012 and are learning more every day about how to be parents to daughters Annabel (2013) and Eleanor (2016). Rachel and her family recently relocated from Charlestown to the Metrowest suburbs and are enjoying their yard, but dislike shoveling snow from their driveway. Rachel currently works as an energy and environmental consultant, and wore Birkenstocks before they were trendy. Likes: her family, her in-laws, cooking ambitious meals and leaving the dishes for someone else, hiking, running, yoga, climbing mountains, reading books, farmers' markets and her CSA, dark chocolate peanut butter cups, the sound of her daughters' laughter, and coffee Dislikes: running out of milk, New England winters, diaper rash, wastefulness, cell phones at the dinner table