Are You Turning Into Your Parents?

 

By Elaine Viets of the Femmes Fatales.

"What's the fastest way to get to the highway from here?" my husband asked me.
"The most direct way is US 1 to Broward Boulevard, but this time of day, I like to take Bayview to 26th Street to 4th Street, which turns into 3rd Street after it crosses the railroad tracks. That way you'll bypass the rush hour traffic."
As soon as I said those words, I knew I'd turned into my parents. My father never took the straight way to any place. He always knew a back way there, and as a kid, I was convinced his shortcuts actually took longer. But now I do the same thing – I'm always looking for a side route, which I'm convinced will get me there faster.

My mother kept a rag bag to clean up spills. As a kid, I grumbled when she didn't use paper towels like other moms. Now here I am, with a collection of rags in my kitchen closet. I tell myself I'm being environmentally friendly, but I know better. I've turned into my mother.

My stern German Grandmother Viets used to cut up old correspondence for scrap paper. Now I do the same thing. I'm recycling, I say. At least I haven't picked up her habit of cutting out the insides of greeting cards and then re-using the outer shell.
So far, I haven't picked up any habits of my Grandma Vierling, a sweet woman who loved to cook and kept her home spotless. But I keep hoping.
So what about you, readers? Do you have your parents' habits? Which ones?

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Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Malice Domestic mystery convention in Bethesda, MD. To find out where the Femmes will be appearing, check out Catriona's blog here: https://femmesfatales.typepad.com/my_weblog/2019/04/isnt-it-malicious.html

Comments

[Karen in Ohio]

Hi, Elaine! I'm skipping Malice this year, and I will so miss seeing you. Have a grand time.

My grandmother, mother of nine children, used to stay up all night reading mysteries and novels about nurses. Needless to say, I turned into her decades ago! My own mother is super friendly, and would talk to a post, as they say. I have to admit to that particular trait, as well, sometimes to the embarrassment of my own kids.

[Elaine Viets]

So sorry to miss you at Malice this year, Karen. If it wasn't for your super-friendliness, I don't think I would have met you. And embarrassing your kids is one of the pleasures of being a grown up. Keep on reading those mysteries.

[Mark]

Funny, my younger brother has always been the person who took those shortcuts. I still take the main routes because they seem to me to be the best way to go.

[Storyteller Mary]

I surprise myself doing some small thing that I realize is "the way Mom did it." You've also reminded me of my late MIL, who made gift tags from old Christmas cards, which I have also done, thus turning into someone else's parent as well. Really, though, do we want to have to reinvent everything?

[Elaine Viets]

You're probably right, Mark, and faster, too. But I can't resist plotting "short cuts."

[Elaine Viets]

Gift tags from old cards is a creative way to recycle them, Mary. The frugal ways of older generations are useful now that we understand the importance of recycling.

[Alan P.]

My mother realized her wooden kitchen spoons had ware spots like her mother's, now mine do too.

I give people books I think they would like, like my father did. I have spare copies of "A Case of Need", "Under the Influence" and "Snow Crash" on the shelf. I think I need to send a copy of "Doc in the Box" to a friend in Texas battling cancer.

[Alan P.]

I friend of my father's said I sound like him. Not my voice, but my word choice and speaking style. Nicest thing anyone has said to me in a while.

[Elaine Viets]

"A friend of my father's said I sound like him. Not my voice, but my word choice and speaking style. Nicest thing anyone has said to me in a while."
Congratulations, Alan P. I knew your father. He was a good lawyer and a good man. Sending books to friends is a lovely habit to continue.

[Marcia Talley]

I come from frugal Puritan stock (on both sides) so it's no surprise that I'm a basic "meat and potatoes" cook like my mom. I also wash out and reuse ziploc bags.

I'm going to miss Malice this year, too, for the first time since Nevada Barr won best first for Track of the Cat. A family conflict ... but I hope to be back next year as usual.

[Elaine Viets]

Good for you for re-using Ziplocs. My grandmother saved and washed all plastic -- even bread bags!
We'll miss you at Malice this year.

[Marcia Talley]

And I use shower caps to cover bowls of leftovers.

[Elaine Viets]

OMG. I'll never look at a shower cap the same way again.