Oh My God I'm Turning Into My Father/Mother!!

But that's not as horrifying as the times when I'm afraid that on some level I'm becoming the nun who lectured my sophomore class on contraceptives. (This actually happened to me in a Catholic school. She made a point of the various contraceptives' failure rates and nasty side effects, but she did honestly and accurately describe the various means available.)

I think that, perversely, I was in more danger of turning into my parents when I was a teenager than I am today. I would use some of their outmoded expressions at school, get teased for it, come to comprehend that this was Not A Cool Thing To Do and avoid doing it. And I've continued to avoid doing it.

Did I mention that since the Anglo Saxons had no sugar, Honey was such a precious substance that they were allowed to pay their taxes in honey? Hence the link of honey and money is not necessarily rhyming nonsense?

From my mum, I inherited her lack of patience and inability to suffer fools gladly. She rocks though, and if I *do* become a film agent, then she'll be the best role model imaginable.

I stood in the hallway after that, trying to figure out what had just made me more pathetic: mimicking my parents with the yelling and door thing, or that I had just yelled that to my cats.

Given that I've seen you, and our age difference, any chance of an intro to your mother? Is she still with your dad...?

To the best of my knowledge no one has ever said that anything about me even slightly resembles my parents. I guess the fact that I was adopted is a big part of this, but I don't think I've picked up mannerisms or anything from them either.

And they were right, but it only started happening when I approached middle age. I don't mind, though I wish I looked like them when they were younger. As it is, I'm turning into a combination of that Wynona mugshot and William Shatner in that Crudders pic.

I still don't think I resemble my dad in any of my behavior/mannerisms. I use some of the more fogeyish criticisms I remember from my childhood on my 2nd Grade students when I'm kidding around. And sometimes I'm like my mom when I'm feeling really chatty and hospitable. It's nice, I don't mind.

scott, when you say "i wuv oooo" to the kids it's just like your mom does.

i drink like my mom

i sing loudly in the car when i'm alone with the kids like my dad

I don't know if it's just too obvious for it to be genetic, but I was a tiny bit startled when my dad put my daughter on his knee and started to bounce her as he hummed the tune to "Rawhide". I had been doing that for the whole week before.

Actually, it was the tune to "Bonanza".

Our voices are identical, the point even my dad couldn't tell if it was my mum or me on the phone speaking to him. Other than that, I don't really think I take after them (personality wise). Maybe we all three have insecurity problems, but.... Well, yes, that probably has something to do with our family and how my parents were raised? I don't know for sure - could we ever know with any certainty unless there's some parallel universe - and nor do I care anymore.

What can I say? At age 52 I know by now that I have inherited or imitated large numbers of traits from both my parents, although it is a matter of resemblance much more than duplication. Luckily I love them and admire them both and this observation isn't an existential problem for me.

I definitely got my mother's obsession with money and being able to financially weather unforeseen emergencies.

Did any of the posters above actually turn into their father or more? We look back on memorable contributions and see where they are now.

I have been thinking about this a bit lately. I haven't even spoken to him since about '93 and wouldn't gaf if he died tomorrow tbh. I have got past the point where I used to be scared I might be as shit as him but pretending otherwise. Sometimes I think having a shit dad that you can easily cut loose is a gift in some ways. I dread to think how awful it would be maintaining a faux friendship with such a twat for the last two decades.