I remember my mum absolutely freaking out one day when I was seven or eight years old. I had got home from school about 25 minutes later than usual after stopping to play on the slide at the park with my friend Paul Saunders.
Why was she so worried???! It was only 25 minutes!
When we're young, our parents seem such strange creatures. When we're teenagers we dread the prospect of becoming OLD like them. In our twenties, we're so busy just getting STARTED with life that parenting seems unimaginable. And then, suddenly, we're in our thirties and the prospect of becoming exactly like our parents comes at us like a big fast-moving truck!
I have a crystal clear vision from 30 years ago of my mum following Ron and I around the house turning off lights we'd left glowing behind us like a trail of electronic breadcrumbs.
"Wait until you pay the bills!" she would shout from some other room in the house as we stumbled on regardless, lighting up new rooms as we went.
Today, I follow Emma from the bedroom to the kitchen to the lounge via the bathroom, flicking off light switches as I go, saying pretty much the exact same thing!
When he was still a working mariner, my dad came home from two and three month trips to sea as if all he'd been thinking about for those months was getting into the garden.
He would spend hours - days! - pacing our yellow-and-red-colored tile garden pathways between the cabbages and the lettuces inspecting his crops, followed at every step by our cat, Whiskey.
Now, yes, you've guessed it, I've become an avid gardener too. Is there a 'gardening gene' in the genetic sequence?
Tonight I was exstatic to pluck a ripe red strawberry from my hand-planted strawberry patch. Tomorrow, I might even eat it!
And then there's worrying. (Like the incident with the slide and Paul Saunders.) Since becoming a dad, I worry about my boy all the time.
I've probably thought up six excuses so far for checking that William is still breathing at night: A glass of water. Is the light still on? Did you hear that? Just need to check my schedule for tomorrow....I might as well check on William while I'm up.
Sorry mum. I understand about the slide now.
Of course, I should point out that the transformation to becoming a perfect replica of mother/father is not quite complete.
I have yet to chase my son around the garden with a large whicker carpet beater (my mum).
I have also not yet cursed my lazy son with colorful Dutch expletives for mowing the lawn with one hand in his pocket (my mum again).
And finally, I have yet to trade (for a four-pack of beer) silence to my wife about our son's secret house party while (he thought) his mother and father would be away at the same time.
Of course, you know that day will come!
The exact conversation I was having at work today...nothing wrong with becoming your parents - look at the people they raised :-)
Posted by: Matt | July 02, 2009 at 06:09 AM