This book centers around the rich stories of eight women: four women and their four daughters. The first chapter is told by a daughter, Jing-Mei, whose mother has very recently died. Prominent in Jing-Mei's mind is whether or not she is like her mother, and whether she really ever knew her mother.
I've heard many times in my life that we inevitably turn into our parents, whether we want to or not. I remember growing up, I did not want to be compared to my mother, even though pictures of us as children were completely identical. I remember one day when I was in middle school, we were digging around under the bathroom sink trying to fix a pipe. When we stood up and both looked into the mirror simultaneously, I gasped. It was undeniable; I was a carbon copy of her. I made peace with looking like her, but that's not where the similarities ended. Like Jing-Mei, I was obsessed with this idea after my mother died. I felt that all her quirks and flaws had flown out into the universe and landed on me. I heard myself sneeze in the same annoying way she did; I started talking in my sleep just like I'd always made fun of her for. I even started adopting her verbal tics, like "for crying out loud" and "heavens to Betsy" -- weird exclamations from decades ago.
Are you like your parent(s)? What do you hope to inherit from them, and what do you wish like crazy to avoid? And what happens if one day you wake up and realize you got it all - the good, the bad, and the ugly? Share your thoughts here.
8 comments:
i think everyone becomes or inherents the ideas or ideals of their parents. us teenagers usually say that we are never going to become like our parents cause we see everything that they do as unfair to us but when we grow up and have kids we will understand why our parents acted the way they did with us. and as for me i think i would be lucky to be a little like my mom because she is an excellent mother, as for my da i think i wouldnt like to be like him because he is very strick with us but i know that he only pushes us because he wants us to do our best and be our best at everything we do even if it means him getting frustuated with us and making is cry sometimes.
well i found the page any ways ......am i wish i was like my dad but i geas i'm more like my mom in a way. I would like to have all the good from both but you never know what could happen. I rely don't care what i get they are both beutiful persons in my life.
Many people say that they do not want to be like their parents when they get older because they might think that their parents are strick or mean or other kinds of things. For me i would love to be like my mom becase she is a very strong women and she is a hard worke. she also a very loving and person. no matter what happens she always finds a way to make things right. eventhough she is always on my back about school and other things that seem important she makes sure that i am doing the right thing.
Well for me my family is always telling me that i look like my dad but one thing is that i would like to be like both of my parents my dad could be mean and strict but he has his cool side he could be my best friend and my mom could be mean and strict and really layed back once u get to know both of my parents.They are one of the good things in life i could trust and even if i do end up like them iam glad they are my parents they have tought me well and one thing that is funny to me is when most of my friend tell me no when i have my children ill be diffrent but come on we all going to be like our parents.
Well, my mother always tells me I am just like my father in terms of attitude and my language. I feel sometimes a person becomes more like one of their parents depending on which one he or she spends the most time with. As for me, many relatives say I inherit my father's friendly , serious personality and my looks from my mother. Either way a son or daughter will usually have traits from both the mother and father. When I was a young lad in elementry I always hoped not to inherit my mother's height. Everyday I did a lot of strecthing excersises and drank plenty of milk to avoid this doom. If I was to wake up one day and looked, spoke, acted like either of my parents, a lot would of changed. My social life, hobbies and type of school would of been different right now. Looking different , acting different , being different will ulitimately change they way anyone lives their life.
My mom constantly tells me that am a lot like my dad because were both carefree and never speak out when something’s wrong. I would like to inherit my mom’s attitude because she’s never scared to tell you how it is and I know its weird to say but am glad at times she yells and screams at me because that’s how I know that she cares about me. She only want the best for me and she tries to keep me in line so that way I could have a better life then what she had. I would try to avoid been too much like my dad. I hate that he is too nice to everybody and people are always taking advantage of him with money or work. I’m a nice person but at the same time I need to set boundaries that people can’t pass. If I have children one day I would raise then like my parents raised me but only with a few minor differences.
I could say that i have a strong relationship with my parents. Being an only child my parents some times seem like siblings.My mom is giving, humble, and doesn't like to stick out of the croud too much.My father is more out spoken and adventurous.I love the way my parents are complete opposites.I think that i have inherented my dads leadership and sportsmanship skills. I love being apart of something big and i love sports. My mom is more religous and i know that i have picked up my faith from her. I know my mom is what will guide me to lead my childen to faith and my father will pass on to me the motivation to push through life.
First of all, im sorry this is terribly late. I wish that I inherit every single aspect of my father. Well, exept his beer belly and his vicious nail bitting when hes nervous. I can relate to the book in terms of relating to my mother. Many family members say were identical but thats not what I have a problem with. I dont want to have to be so impacient and sometimes frantic like she is. I think that I would really freak out if I woke up and I was just like her, not just in appearance. Although, maybe I could finally understand what its like to be her.
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