Like mother, like daughter

In honor of the “most special day of the whole year” (my mother’s birthday), this post is for her.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Like father, like son”. What about “Like mother, like daughter”? I’ve recently discovered that I have inherited many of my mother’s mannerisms, several of which I still tease her about.

The first one that I have just recently noticed occurs when I am in the kitchen. While growing up, both of my parents shared in cooking dinner. I can remember my father being a pro-chef at Hamburger Helper Stronganoff and pasta with meat sauce and my mom going through her various food phases, sometimes trying to pass off portabella mushrooms or veggie burgers as beef hamburgers and other times bringing home a treat like Burger King. Regardless of what my mom was cooking, I can remember how she would always have a dish towel draped over one of her shoulders; making it easy for her to wipe her hands in between stirring soup, chopping vegetables or doing dishes. I haven’t done much cooking here in Kuwait, but not because I don’t know how to. I enjoy cooking but have a hard time spending a lot of time and effort making a nice meal for just me. However, when I am in my kitchen adding some lemon or garlic to a bowl of hummus or cutting up an apple to eat with some peanut butter, you can almost always find me with a towel draped over my shoulder.

I’m not exactly sure when my mom started to change out her old pots and pans to her new pride and joy – Emeril cookware. She loves food and loves cooking, and let me tell you, she also loves these pots and pans. In order to take care of her cookware she makes sure that anyone who uses these pans cleans them right away and always uses Bar Keepers Friend so that they stay looking sparkly and brand new. I used to sigh loudly after offering to help clean up and seeing the number of dishes my mother had created (this, by the way, is one characteristic I have not adopted). I also knew that if I chose to skimp on the scrubbing or conveniently “forget” to use Bar Keepers Friend that she would make a comment to let me know she was on to me. This past August, a few days before leaving for Kuwait, my mom surprised me with a beautiful Emeril frying and sauce pan. I used the sauce pan during my first week to heat some water for tea but have barely touched it since. I couldn’t stand the sight of water drops and seeing the copper ring on the bottom of the pan a dull brown instead of the bright and shiny color I have grown so accustomed to. Pathetic..

The older I get, the more people comment and say how much I look like my mom. Despite my cousin Rachel who is the spitting image of my mother at her age, I can see some of the similarities that we share in our faces. We hold the same smile, which stays on our face for the majority of the day. Of course there are times when we cry, another commonality which runs through the blood of the Minors, but for the most part we are seen by others and asked, “Do you ever stop smiling?” We also have the ability to entertain children with our noses – “Wow, it’s so long. Hey you look like Rudolph”, after forgetting to put on sunscreen… I’m not getting into it, sensitive subject.

We also have the habit of not being able to stop talking about food. “Oh wow! This is sooo good. Mmmm.” In no way are we quiet eaters but that’s what makes it fun going out to eat with her, most of the time :)

I know there are countless of other qualities that we share, many of which I adopted without realizing and have now become engrained in who I am. We both chose to go into care-taker professions, love having our feet rubbed and can’t get enough of St. John and the ocean. She’s the best mother in the whole world. And I hope that this short post serves as a small reminder as to how much I love her. Happy birthday Mommy.