# When did you become your parents? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254 "2004-07-02T18:49:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/1 "2004-07-02T18:49:02Z")
The wife and I became my parents last week. We rented a travel trailer to spend a week camping with the 18 month old twins (big big BIG mistake) Collin kept playing with the sliding plastic cover on the screen door that covers the door latch. The Divine, young, nubile, mothier of my children, Mrs. Blank yells from the back of the trailer: “Shut the Door! Yer lettin all the Nature in!” After which neither of us seemed particularly young anymore. And just when did I get my Fathers hands? They’re gettin all weatherbeaten…and I have a DESKJOB. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/2 "2004-07-02T18:56:11Z")
> [@Unintentionally Blank](#): > > We rented a travel trailer to spend a week camping with the 18 month old twins (big big BIG mistake) In addition to big, weatherbeaten hands and a deskjob, you also seem to have a very severe head injury. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/3 "2004-07-02T19:18:20Z")
We become our parents when WE become parents. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/4 "2004-07-02T19:42:41Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > In addition to big, weatherbeaten hands and a deskjob, you also seem to have a very severe head injury. Well, yeah. But the first thing to go is my memory, so I don’t remember much. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/5 "2004-07-02T19:42:57Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > We become our parents when WE become parents. If we’re lucky. Thank the stars I eventually became my dad. I needed some more stability and responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/6 "2004-07-02T20:26:31Z")
I’m already becoming my mother, and I’m 23, without any kids of my own yet. I went on a day trip with my friends 2 weeks ago, and found myself packing my bottle of sunscreen just in case someone had forgotten to put any on before leaving. Plus Band-Aids, Tylenol, napkins, and plastic spoons. My friends call me Mom. It’s so sad. I just want to make sure everyone will be _okay_! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/7 "2004-07-02T20:53:13Z")
Anecdote Alert! About 10 years ago, one of my sophomore classes was being more rambunctious than usual. I had too much to do in too little time, and they weren’t helping. I snapped and started berating them, wagging my finger and detailing their sins. Then I noticed what I was doing…and stopped. I looked at my finger, there at the end of my hand, poised in mid-wag. “Class, I apologize. Somehow I have acquired my father’s finger.” You know, they all understood. That class was never a problem again. And I have kept my father’s finger completely under wraps since then. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/8 "2004-07-02T21:55:00Z")
I knew I had crossed over the first time I heard myself yelling **"Turn that crap down"** ---
**Author:** ![The\_27th\_Evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ebca7d/32.png) [@The\_27th\_Evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_27th_Evil)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/9 "2004-07-02T22:05:01Z")
> [@](#): > > I went on a day trip with my friends 2 weeks ago, and found myself packing my bottle of sunscreen just in case someone had forgotten to put any on before leaving. Plus Band-Aids, Tylenol, napkins, and plastic spoons. > > My friends call me Mom. It’s so sad. I just want to make sure everyone will be okay! Aww, it’s okay, **Antigen**. I carry the everything bag too- first-aid crap, extra nylons, hairspray, various beauty crap, painkillers, sewing project, the whole 8 7/8 yards. People tease me at first but they seem to shut up when they realize they’ve forgotten some crucial thing. Plus, those giant shoulder bags are incredibly useful when people run out of carrying space. > [@](#): > > I knew I had crossed over the first time I heard myself yelling > > “Turn that crap down” ::Grumble grumble:: \*Don’t those neighbors ever go to bed? \* ::Floors vibrate:: _Argh! The music! It’s two in the morning!_ ::Pound on wall:: **Oh dear Og, I’ve become my mother.** ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/10 "2004-07-02T22:45:32Z")
I first really noticed it the day I was driving somewhere with the critters in tow, and in response to their incessant squabbling I yelled, “If y’all don’t knock that off _RIGHT NOW_, I’m going to pull this car over and start beating animals, and I don’t care whose they are!” ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/11 "2004-07-02T23:44:35Z")
Oh, no kids here and I turned into my mother some years ago. What _really_ worries me though is that I think I’m turning into my grandmother. ---
**Author:** ![Chunky\_Bum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Chunky\_Bum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chunky_Bum)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/12 "2004-07-03T02:31:54Z")
I love my parents, but I am the exact opposite of my parents in virtually every way. Having said that, I finished “sewing my oats” by the time I got married. No more wild parties in the “group house”. No more bong hits. No more Dead shows. No more one night stands. No more 12 hour Playstation marathons. No more road trips. It’s responsibility time now. It’s about raising a family. It’s about developing a life long bond with my wife. It’s about developing a career. It’s about morgage payments, car payments, saving for my kids college. It’s about working in the yard. It’s about excercising and losing weight. It’s about quality time with friends who have kids. It’s about family vacations. It’s about quit time at home, after the kids are in bed (and yes, that includes _American Idol, Journey CD’s, and Stephen King novels_). I’ve seen both sides of the fence, and I like the side I am on now the best! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/13 "2004-07-03T02:38:41Z")
I don’t suppose I ever will. By the time my old man was the age I am now, he had a graduate degree, flew super-sonic jet fighters, had 5 kids and (on paper) was a multi-millionaire. My brothers and sister like to “bash” him, because he wasn’t alway the most “lovey-dovey, touchy-feely” kind of guy. I notice they don’t bitch too much about the nice houses they live in and cars that they drive, all provided by his hard work and business savvy. (all three of them live in houses he bought, 2 of them don’t even have jobs because they live of residual income from investments he made in thier name! :rolleyes: ) Lord knows I wouldn’t have anywhere near the lifestyle I enjoy without his foresight and planning. (I get some of that residual, too! 😃 And I only work 30 hours a week, mainly to have company provided healthcare for me and the family) My old man was the smartest, shrewedest cat I’ve know (my boss is a distant second) and if I could be as successful as he was, in as many arenas as he was, I wouldn’t have anything to bitch about. Not that I have all that much to bitch about now. So, I guess my answer is “I wish I did years ago!”. (but I wouldn’t drink vodka. I’d stick to homebrew beer) ---
**Author:** ![holdmytail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@holdmytail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holdmytail)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/14 "2004-07-03T02:50:29Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > I don’t suppose I ever will. > > By the time my old man was the age I am now, he had a graduate degree, flew super-sonic jet fighters, had 5 kids and (on paper) was a multi-millionaire. > > My brothers and sister like to “bash” him, because he wasn’t alway the most “lovey-dovey, touchy-feely” kind of guy. I notice they don’t bitch too much about the nice houses they live in and cars that they drive, all provided by his hard work and business savvy. (all three of them live in houses he bought, 2 of them don’t even have jobs because they live of residual income from investments he made in thier name! :rolleyes: ) Lord knows I wouldn’t have anywhere near the lifestyle I enjoy without his foresight and planning. (I get some of that residual, too! 😃 And I only work 30 hours a week, mainly to have company provided healthcare for me and the family) > > My old man was the smartest, shrewedest cat I’ve know (my boss is a distant second) and if I could be as successful as he was, in as many arenas as he was, I wouldn’t have anything to bitch about. Not that I have all that much to bitch about now. > > So, I guess my answer is “I wish I did years ago!”. (but I wouldn’t drink vodka. I’d stick to homebrew beer) How did he do it? I admire people like that to no end and aim to become one some day. I’m already always practicing getting around rules, being sneaky, working super-hard, and acquiring connections everywhere (it’s all about connections…at one local mall I can always get free food and movie tickets 😃 and I know a guy at the airport that put me on a flight I shouldn’t have gotten onto when I missed mine…and I just see people around me getting far because they know people). Anything else I have to do? ---
**Author:** ![shirt\_brown\_honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@shirt\_brown\_honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shirt_brown_honesty)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/15 "2004-07-03T06:12:52Z")
The day I told my parents that their house was a mess\*; they weren’t eating enough vegetables; and the tv was too loud, I knew I was channeling them. The day I told them that going to the casino every Friday for Seniors Day was becoming a habit, I was blurring the line. The day I told them both to put sweaters on because I was cold, I knew I had “Crossed Over” \*[SIZE=1]To be fair, the house was a mess because it also contained all the furniture from my Grandmother’s house, which had just been sold.[/SIZE1] ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-become-your-parents/253254/16 "2004-07-03T06:32:19Z")
I’m turning into my mom right now, and I don’t even have kids. I’m only 21. I’m too young to be insane. I knew I crossed over when I took my husband to lunch and he ordered a 5 dollar sandwich instead of 2.50 hamburger and I flipped out. I’m trying to save money, damnit! Like the $2.50 would break us. But it was exactly like something she would do. I figure at this rate, I’ll be my grandmother by the time I’m 30 and then the fun will really start. (She’s such a mean, insane old bat…)