Like Mother Like Son…

As we were travelling to visit family last week, I had one of those moments. For those of you that have kids, you know *the* moment. It is the moment when you see your reflection in your children’s behavior.

When I was a kid, I had a few plans for my life. In Kindergarten I was going to be an astronaut, by the next year I had switched to storyteller ( you know- the librarian the would hold the book up and read you stories) and I would practice my technique on my always available stuffed animals. 🙂 But after 4th grade, I knew. I knew you all. I knew. I was going to be a famous singer. Obviously. It was so obvious- all the hints and clues along the way- my voice, my mojo, my love of the limelight, yes. It was all there.

…….So fast forward about 22 years and there we were – at a crowded rest stop, walking through the double doors with my 5 year old holding one hand and my 4 year old holding the other.

Like a Mother Hen, I am protectively shuffling my babies through packed entrance doors when my youngest son’s flip flop comes flying off and lands on the other side of the walkway.

In the brief seconds that follow, I see my son take a quick inventory of the crowd and the fact that they stopped and are waiting on him.

Instead of getting his shoe and moving out of the way, he sees that everyone is watching him, he looks around at the crowd and breaks into song! I’m talking arms out, belting his lyrics as though he has waited his whole life for this very moment!

As the mom of this little “show stopper”, I am caught between two feelings- one is that we need to get this shoe and get out of the way for everyone. Meanwhile the other part of me is trying not to crack up laughing as I am thinking “Yup. That’s MY boy!” 😂

……Rewinding back to 4th grade, there were a few tidbits that *may have* pointed out that I wasn’t *quite* ready for stardom- like the fact that I was chronically shy and the only limelight I ever went after was typically just the stories I made up in my imagination. 🙂

Which is why by the time 9th grade hit, I had narrowed down my career to two options – a writer for a magazine or a psychologist 🙂 By 10th grade I began taking college counseling courses. 🙂

So though I never did become an astronaut, I did become a writer, a story teller, a shower singer, and yes, a psychotherapist 🙂

Watching my son take up the gauntlet was pretty spectacular. I had to grow into my wings- but him? He already knows how to use his. ❤