I have a friend who just told me "You are definetely your father's daughter," after having a small tiff about the types of food I eat (addiction to Hamburger Helper, Chicken Helper, Tuna Helper, any kind of Helper really). Hey, I'm broke right now and I know my dad definetely may not agree all the time, but I really have adopted some of his many great money saving habits.
I also have several friends who absolutely dread becoming their parents one day and when I tell them that they are they give me a death stare that says "Did you really just say that and maybe this is a good thing but I'm not going to let my mom or dad find out." With my background in psychology I have read many books about inheriting things from our parents, both genetically and by imitation, which then leads into the never ending argument of Nature vs. Nurture. Do we inherit most of our little quirks and behaviors by simply being from the same DNA strand or just by watching their every move when we're little trying to be just like them?
From what I have learned psychology says it is a little bit of both. But after 4 years of psychoanalysis papers, motivation and emotion tests and behavior studies I am kind of leaning towards the nature side. I believe my reasoning is just after all the things I have found out about myself and my similarities to my parents, which are findings I discovered after moving out of the house. For example, my mom's horrible driving skills. Put us two in the front seat of a car and you have a 99% chance of getting lost or hitting a curb. Why would I want to imitate that skill? It has to be genetics. We are also both a bit on the ditzy side but to be honest it's one of my favorite things about her because we can laugh and share our stories of how I ran into a door or driving through a McDonald's, paying for your food, and forgetting to pick it up at the second window (no joke, it actually happened! Not saying which one of us it was...) You can be in the worst mood ever and those stories will turn your whole week around.
And then there's my dad, which is who this post is dedicated to on the most obvious day to dedicate a post to a father. I have to admit I was a little bit on the lazy side when it came to working hard in high school (We all have our moments) but for some reason the awesome hard worker skills that my dad has always had came to me after I had moved out of the house and was living on my own, far from viewing his own skills that I could imitate. Sure I watched him working tirelessly to provide for us when I was younger but I have to admit I mostly just watched and thanked him for all the great things he could give us: a beautful house, a great education, and more than enough food on the table. I believe those hard worker skills have always been in me because I began to use them when I wasn't being nurtured by my dad to imitate them. So a big thanks to my dad for those great genes!
Happy Father's Day to my wonderful dad and every dad who has cared for their children just as mine did. And friends, it's really not that bad to inherit some of your parents qualities. Whether in your own silence or straight to their faces, you'll thank them later.
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