As the Days Go By

Do you ever wonder how much your parents influence your behavior? I mean, how many of you ever rolled your eyes at something your parents did and thought to yourselves "When I have kids I will NOT make them do X, Y, or Z" or "I will NOT do this when I grow up and have kids"? I know I certainly did, and on the top of that list was "I will NOT make my kids late for school/birthday parties/ballet lessons" because people, my mother was always late. Always. In second grade I was called into the principal's office for arriving to school tardy too many times. Not only was this mortifying for a straight-A doogooder type like myself, it wasn't even my fault! I remember that I used to lie to my mom about when things started (adding a good half-hour in there for padding) so that I might have a chance to get there on time. Another thing that I decided I would never do was be as messy as my parents were. Those two are the ultimate absentminded professors. Our kitchen table would be a mess of books, magazines, pens, pencils, coasters, mugs of old coffee, and half-graded term papers. It drove me crazy. My room was always by far the cleanest and neatest in the house and I'm one of the most organized people I know. I'm also obsessed with being early to everything, ever. So basically, through their habits, I learned some very good lessons from my parents: be organized, be early, and be sure to drive your kids crazy lest they turn out like you. Although looking at my parents, that would not be such a bad thing.