Just like Mom

I feel guilty that I haven't posted in a few days, but this week has been killer and next week isn't looking any better.  I started Cognitive Coaching training Thursday and Friday, and while the information has been fascinating about how to help people by mediating their thinking, I am mentally exhausted.  Meanwhile, it was also parent teacher conferences this week for both my school in my teacher role and for my son's school in my parent role.  That effectively means that I got to work an extra 8 hours this week while trying to coordinate with my husband, so that he could fill in the gaps where I normally pitch in.

All in all, I am feeling rather stressed, and I don't even want to talk (let alone think) about next week's agenda. So tonight I did something I love more than anything in the whole world!  I grabbed a nice, restful book (Mitford series by Jan Karon) and sat in a bubble bath.  This is my go to destresser.  After getting out, I decided to check the blog and see what Mom was up to, and I was pleasantly surprised. 

I didn't realize our childhoods were such mirror images. 

1. I loved to read. I read a lot of classics (including many of my mother and grandmother's old books)
2. I loved, loved, loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  I also loved the Little House on the Prarie books.  I remember feeling so grown up that I could read them in first grade.
3. I loved to put on song and dance routines with my best friend. We did Les Mis about a million times.  I think our parents finally drew the line when we reenacted it with Barbies!
4. I had a hate-love relationship with piano. Started lessons at 7, and continued for about 10 years. I remember wanting to quit, but Mom wouldn't let me, that was the one thing that she forced me to do.  I would get so mad about practicing and pound the keys so hard, but the madder I was, the better I played.
5. I had a banana seat bike that I'd hop on and pull my friend around on her rollerskates.  We spent most of our time outdoors making potions and forts, climbing trees, and exploring our neighborhood.
6. I loved animals. I begged for a cat for so long, finally my mom brought home the cutest little black kitten. We named him Boo.
7. I loved animals so much that I cried my eyes out when any animals got hurt in movies, but I wasn't the least bit moved when the people died.
8. I thought I'd become an assassin. In fact, I disliked the kids in middle school so much, I was devising ways of extracting poisons from plants in order to kill them. I checked out library books all about poisonous plants.
9. We had a creek near our house - I loved to play there - usually trying to locate animal life and study it.
10. My younger brother and I played many different board games. I always cheated, but he rarely caught me.
11. And finally, my favorite thing to do was lay in the bathtub with sunflower seeds, and a good book, reading and eating until the water got cold-then I'd drain and refill and keep on reading. 

I guess that's a case study of Nature being stronger than nurture.  I wonder how many of these will crop up in my boys' childhoods?  I'm looking forward to finding out.

P.S. - the picture Ner made on the computer and it was just so cute that I added it