“I am never going to be like my Mother!”
How many times have you said this to yourself, in your mind, aloud, and, you brave one, to your Mom’s face? Ah, youth! So bold. So confident. So wrong.
One day, you are running down the stairs to escape her instructions. Fast-forward a few years, and you’re yelling, “Close the fridge! We are not cooling the whole house!” and suddenly, you’re her. You have turned into your Mother!
Yes, I am turning into my Mother. And, spoiler alert: it’s not just inevitable – it’s actually awesome!
Here is how I knew my transformation was complete:
- “Because I said so” has become my battle cry: Once dismissed as a non-answer, it’s now my default response. It shuts down debates and adds an extra 10 points to my authority meter.
- The Plastic bag inside a plastic bag collection, the paper bag collection, and my endless love and possessiveness over Dabbas: It started with a gorgeous plastic bag. Then one became two, and I now have a museum-worthy archive of grocery and paper bags. Don’t even get me started on my collection of dabbas. God save the person who doesn’t return them!
- THAT tone has entered the chat: I don’t raise my voice. I don’t argue. I say it, and it gets done. It’s THAT tone I began using without even realising it. It yields the same results as it did for Mom.
- I have started making a “Reading face” and a ‘Television/Movie watching face”: Eyebrows knit. Lips move. Head tilts. Egging the characters on, or reprimanding them. Whatever is the need of that moment. Those intense expressions of focus I laughed at as a kid? I now have them all flashing across my face, by turn.
- I have started using the words I swore I never would -“In our time”: Yes. I catch myself starting my sentences with these words way too often! Gulp! And I feel no remorse whatsoever. Why? Because ‘our times’ were truly better!
- Shopping for the kitchen and home brings me unparalleled joy! IKEA, Good Earth, and Homecentre are my playgrounds! There’s a spring in my step every time I visit. Filigreed Table Mats? Yes, please! That elegant tissue box? I’ll take 2! Home decor stores are at the top of my list when I travel.
- The love for Ethnic wear, block prints, and bindis: My style has undergone a complete transformation, and I find myself dressing like my mother did when I was growing up. I reach out for mul’s, cottons, and silks that drape themselves around me like a soft hug. I love wearing bindis, big and small. And sarees! I now have my very own collection of them, I’ll have you know !
So, yes. The transformation is complete. I have turned into my mother. But here’s the twist. I now realise how amazing she really is. Her quirks, her wisdom, her patience, and even her obsession with leftovers have somehow all found a place in me.
And honestly? I wear that transformation pretty fabulously!
The only thing we differ on? Her opinion is that the mobile phone is the root of all evil!
Pssttttt: While I’m sharing so much about my Mother, I might as well confess: People, I used to lie to you. My mother didn’t say ‘No’, I did.
This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla
in collaboration with Ratna Prabha.
What a fun and relatable read! I love how you mentioned those small, seemingly silly habits that sneak up on us. Those “mom phrases” slipping into our vocabulary are both hilarious and oddly comforting. It’s sweet to realize how much of our moms lives on in our quirks and habits. And the best part? Embracing it all with humor and pride—turning into our moms isn’t so bad after all!
As they say-Like Mother, Like daughter.The upbringing , the values and the genes must come into play at some point of time to make us similar to our mothers in some ways.It only means that they were a good influence on us!
I loved the sparkling humour in this piece, Mayuri.
I was chuckling when I read about making ‘Reading face ” and ” TV face”, that was innovative!
Oh wow, I felt like you were telling my story.. I used to roll my eyes at my mom’s plastic bag stash… and now I have my own proud collection The tone, the bindis, the home shopping excitement, yep, guilty of all of it. Never thought turning into her would feel this comforting. Loved every bit of this post.
I think most of us go through this phase when we make fun of our moms, not realising that soon we will become like her.My daughter refers to herself as crazy and says that she gets it from me!I think it is lovely the way you idolise your mom and how you are becoming like her.
Hahaha… I never NOT wanted to be my mother but I did fight a lot with her. Now, I can see I’m so much like her. More than words, it shows that adult actions are subconsciously inherited by their kids.
It’s really fortunate and a blessing if we could become like our mothers. We grow up seeing that person who is our best friend our mother and our universe that we sub cinsciously imbibe her traits. Kudos to you on your transformation. Lovely read!
This was a full mirror moment, I read it while literally rearranging my dabbas by size and quietly judging someone’s fridge habits. Becoming her was the plot twist I didn’t see coming, but honestly? It suits me. Minus the landline obsession, of course
You posts just made me slime throughout! Yes, I want to confess too, I am becoming my mother too. I guess its every daughter’s tale. Somethings we used to not like in our teen’s now its our go to life
This is so true and relatable. Often I find myself saying same things as my mother to my siblings and I am treated my side eyes.
Loved this post, Mayuri ; what a beautiful, light-hearted celebration of becoming our moms! Your personal anecdotes, especially around using the same expressions, made me smile and nod in recognition. It’s comforting to know I’m not alone in enjoying these familiar little inheritances. Thanks for reminding us that turning into our moms can be a gift, not a curse!
That was a fun read… i think i have even started looking like my mother!
Omg, thank you for saying this! I really have come to understand that phrase, “My mom was right about everything” and with it all came my slow transformation of becoming just like her. That plastic bag collection, dabba obsession, and kitchen hit home for me because bring it on ladies. Home furnishing and home decor shops have become my first stops when going for shopping when travelling too, can you imagine?
Somehow, I agree with your mom that the mobile phone is the root of evil, not all, but definitely many. This was such a delightful post, sharing the same qualities as our mothers feel special
OMG … It is so so relatable with me too… As If you are telling my words. Yes, I say my son…. In our times we dont get the privilege that you are getting… Blah Blah Blah. Watching TV is so bad… spoiling you like a brat….. But no in one thing I am not like my mom yet… I am not confortable or feel good wearing saree… I want variety… But Yes, rest I am like her in many things but I have my father impacts in nature more than mom. But I throughly enjoyed it.
Like mother, like daughter. I can relate to the bag collection for sure and the boxes and old clothes as wipers! I guess, we don’t realise how it happens, but some parental habits become a part of us.
I can relate to so many things and because I say so remains on top of the list. Good one and relatable to many parents
This post had me smiling all the way through! So relatable, especially the plastic bag inside a plastic bag and the magical powers of “that tone.” It’s funny how we spend years resisting, only to embrace it all so naturally later. Turning into our moms might just be the biggest plot twist of adulthood!
I am really scared of turning into my mother. I mean, she had been the most selfless and dedicated person I know in my life, but I just can’t be her. However, like mother, like daughter! We daughters have the tendency to pick things up from their mommies! It’s genetics and habits! I totally can relate with you henceforth!
So true. I do some of them too, and after reading this, I realized that most of us become a mini version of our moms… Tell me about dabbas and plastic bags… Kabhi to kaam aayega thought, God knows when that “kabhi’ is going to come. I enoyed reading your post.
We try not to be like our mother but we end up being like her. My daughter would love this post. She keeps saying I have become a replica of my mother.
“Because I said so”….. That’s such a powerful phrase all ‘Mothers’ have them in their arsenal!! other 6 are also nice things to notice actually. I need to observe if I have picked up any of my parent’s habits….
How true! There were times when I was younger when everyone said I look like my Mum and I hated it. yup. But now, it feels like a privilege to have her traits- in both looks and personality.
Love how you celebrate embracing your mother’s quirks with humor and warmth! This heartfelt, relatable journey from resistance to admiration makes the transformation feel beautifully empowering and genuinely fabulous.
This was an engaging read. I do get this feel at times that I’m becoming her..but reality is when my daughter says you are not like her
After reading this blog I remembered how relatives used to say you look sound like your mother. And recently even my traits have started becoming like her. Such a beautiful relatable blog!
I smiled in recognition reading your “turning into my mother” list—it felt like looking in a mirror. The way you celebrate quirks over judgment makes me reflect on my own growing similarities. It’s comforting to see inheritance as loving evolution, not loss.
Like mother, like daughter, and I also proudly say that I am turning into my mom. Her itchy feet and curious mind never say no to anything… Oh my god, how can i exactly think like her? but I love this 🙂
I think we are all turning into our mothers, as much as we hate to admit it!