Ok, we all do it.  We say and do things that our parents did.  This is very much true if we have kids of our own but I’d bet that those of you without kids do many of them as well.

What am I talking about?  Turning down (or off) the thermostat…all the time, or setting it at just below freezing.  Turning lights off and muttering about how you’re the “only one” doing it.  Complaining about the one sip of milk/juice/kool aid etc. that was left in a container in the fridge.  Simply not believing that you could be gone all day and the dishwasher was never emptied.  Garbage, laundry, yard work, any chore, there are caveats that we remember being accused/guilty of as a child.

“As a child” that phrase is a kicker.  We can’t remember many things of our youth but those phrases our parents used ring oh so loudly in our heads.  “Get back from the tv!”  “Are you trying to heat/cool the whole neighborhood?  Close the door!”  “Stop staring at the fridge and close the door!”  “Who touched the thermostat!?!”  “Stop making bubbles in your drink with your straw!”  “Why are you hiding in the linen closet with your underwear on your head?”  Ok, that last one may have just been me…um, yeah, well.  I somehow digress and move on.

Do you now find yourself not only doing that with your kids (or kids in your world) but, in fact, you have added some of your own?  I mean, I was prepared to copy my parents in many ways and somehow fully expected to sound just like them.  However, I didn’t imagine that I would have my own pet peeves/catch phrases/taglines.  Here’s my favorite.  When my kids don’t clean up all the way I will call them to the mess and say, “you chose to leave this mess for someone else to clean up.  I’d like to introduce you tooooooo (I point at myself) SOMEONE ELSE!!!”  I may or may not use that phrase more than I’d like and am quite sure that Joe and Bella will someday be saying that to their kids and thinking of me.

To a degree, though not really, it pains me to know that my poor kids will one day be yelling at their kids and then falling to their knees screaming, “MY DESTINY!!!”  Sobbing into their open hands and remembering me and all of the pain I have caused them by making them clean up the jelly smear from making a PB and J.  Well, either that or a gentle, “Wow, I never thought I’d say that to my kids and I just did…hmmm, weird.  Either way.”

Soooooooo, what are yours?  What things do you say or do that you are sure your kids (or the kids in your life) will one day repeat?  Remember, these phrases are yours…not from your parents.