Part 2 of Lies My Mother Told Me

Letting go of the weight of insecurities and anxieties about life

Photo by Nick Noel on Unsplash

Mothers. They influence us more than we know.

I always chuckled at women who said, “I’m turning into my mom!” Never gonna happen to me, I’d smirk. I’m nothing like my mother.

The first time someone told me I was “just like my mother” was when I went trick or treating dressed up as a gypsy. Mary Tackas from around the corner greeted me at the door with genuine admiration in her eyes as she said, “Oh, you look just like your mother!”

I might have been six or seven years old— that should tell you something about my personality. No superhero outfit with a plastic mask from Woolworths for me — I was going to collect candy as a gypsy. I would repeat this role at my son’s Halloween party 30+ years later, complete with a black cat and magic in my step.

Trying to be different from my mother. (photo by author)

Oh no, I’m becoming my mother! Or am I?

Without fanfare and despite my best efforts to remain original, I’ve slowly morphed into my mother: from the short silvery haircut right down to the cankles and chubby toes, along…