I’m My Mother After All

I can imagine that different women feel different ways about becoming like their mom. For me, I was terrified of becoming like my mother! She’s an amazing woman and I love her like crazy, but when I was younger, I seriously dreaded it.

Then I became a mom and realized that I’m so much like her.

I think my mom is hilarious and I’ve listed down the TOP 5 ways I became my mother.

1. FASHION SENSE (OR LACK THEREOF)

I used to be so embarrassed by the clothes Mom would wear! When I was a dumb teen, i felt like an outfit could make or break my reputation, and I expected my mom to understand. She didn’t, and made it obvious by mismatching really old sweatpants, with some random T-shirt with a picture of our dog on it, or an image of St. Jude with a prayer on the back.

Then I became a mom and quickly realized, if it’s clean, it’s wearable. We’re all being honest here, right? Sometimes, my clothes don’t even have to be clean. Sometimes, I wake up 2 days in a row with the same outfit on. Also, who cares? There are days I just don’t have the time or the energy to care. As for the prayers to St. Jude on her tshirts? She was probably just petitioning to something holy to make her asshole teenage daughter act right.

2. RANDOM SHIT IN MY PURSE

I used to gawk at the contents of her purse. It was always filled with random items that had no apparent or immediate purpose. Sachets of soy sauce. Socks. Did the tv remote go missing? Check mom’s purse, because there’s a good chance she threw that in there!

Now that I’m a mom, I can totally see why she had soy sauce in her bag. Because I take free sachets of anything at a restaurant and I don’t have the time to clean out my bag! The remote? Okay, that’s a tough one and my mom might be the only being in the universe to do something that silly. But I do remember the time while unpacking groceries, I absentmindedly put the ice cream away… under the sink.

3. TAGALOG PROFANITY JUST FLIES OUT OF MY MOUTH

There’s something about being a mom that triggers my Filipino turrets. It’s not even my native language! Mom’s go-to expression was screaming, “Ay, kiki mo!”
This basically translates to, “OMG your pussy!”

My thing is “Punyeta”. I actually don’t even know what it means, but what I do know is that hearing my 7 year old echo it makes me cringe.

4. MIXING UP MY KIDS NAMES

My mom has 2 daughters – Judith and me (Jena). And she can never get our names right. She has even called me Willie- my childhood dog (yes, the one featured on Mom’s stylish t-shirts). On top of this, she takes it a step further and jumbles our names together. Jena becomes Juna. Judith becomes Jedit. Like my mom, I also have 2 daughters now. And I will call out other people’s names like, “Babe” and “Mom” before I get it right.

5. REPEATING STORIES

Since I was little, my sister and I teased my mom for telling the same stories or asking the same questions repeatedly. She did it so much that we started holding up fingers, right in her face, representing the number of times she’s said the same thing in the past (like the peace sign for 2). We would giggle like mad while she would just keep talking, probably hella annoyed by getting interrupted with a hand in her face.

My kids and their dad watched me put my hands in my moms face all these years and laughed along with me when it would happen. Now, the tables have turned. Now, it’s me telling the same kid stories over and over. Now, I ask repeatedly if the electric bill was paid for or when Tita So-and-so’s birthday is. Now, it’s me with all the hands in my face.

My fear has become my reality. And it honestly isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I actually kinda love it. It’s entertaining for our household and I hope it was for you, too.

Now, does anyone need some soy sauce?

*Featured Image courtesy of Jena Daza