The apple never falls far from the tree

Growing up I often heard "You look just like your Mother" or "You act just like your Father". I usually just rolled my eyes and thought, "No I am not, I am me, not them". Not until I became a mother though did I realize the full impact of these statements and their scope of truth.

As my children grow-up and develop their own personalities and habits I find myself more and more often assaulted with the reality that I am looking in the mirror at little "mini-me's". Sometimes I am proud at the reflection I see in my children while other times I am down right ashamed at what I see, knowing darn well that I do the same thing. Yikes! Talk about a reality check!

My 6 year old son in particular consistently brings to mind the phrase "the apple never falls far from the tree". Not only does he look like a male version of me but nearly every aspect of his personality is a reflection of my own.

Here is an abbreviated list of how my son is the apple and I am the tree:

1. the ease with which he learns in school 
2. visual learner; in both math and language arts
3. love of science
4. physical build; we are both on the "small side"
5. facial features
6. temper; scary but true and as a Mother this was a huge slap in my face but is proving to be a huge learning lesson for both of us
7. eating preferences; we love and hate nearly the same things including obscure raw vegetables
8. "attitude"; as hard as it is to admit, we are both "don't mess with me" type of people innately

There are many more things I could list but in the interest of keeping this post brief I will stop there with the list. As my 3 year old daughter grows into her own I see a little of myself but more and more I see my husband which, interestingly enough she takes after his side of the family in appearance and more and more of her personality is his and his alone. 

While realizing that I have apples laying so close to the trunk of my apple tree is humbling it is proving to be an enormous learning lesson and God given blessing. Not only am I being forced to grow personally in order to best "train up" my children but I have to grow spiritually to find the strength and patience to put all the parts of growth together for both myself and my children. I am a better Mother because God has given me little apples laying at the bottom of my apple tree.