I was listening to the radio on my way home one day. The discussion was about the time in your life when you realize you are turning into your Mum or Dad. This happened to me after our baby was born.
My Mum's side of the family is very musical and I've been lucky enough to have inherited some musical genes. When I was little I remember listening to my mum go about her domestic chores, singing or humming. Nowadays I do the same.
Something I am yet to master is her cooking though (picture of one of her dishes above). She turns anything into a delicious treat. The tastiest dishes I remember were from our time in El Salvador; I remember watching her choose the meat or veggies at the local market (and sometimes the supermarket) and later on prepare these ingredients for a meal. My favourite meal is our traditional Bean soup, which normally takes about an hour to cook depending on the density of the bean. My mum would start preparing this and tell me it would soon be ready even though she might have just started preparing it; somehow this shortened the time I had to wait!
Physically I am the female version of my Dad. He likes to whistle, and I think he whistles when he's worried or working on something manual. He used to have a reward system to encourage us to do well at school; so we did, most of the time anyway! I've adopted this system and I believe it works well; it's not perfect, but it drives you towards the realisation that you should do what's good for its own sake and because it benefits all.
My Dad has that 'I've got nothing to lose' attitude and it was this attitude that helped us get here (Australia). I hope his persistence has rubbed off on me.
