2012 March 20

It’s funny the little habits that we inherit from our parents that we don’t think much of since we’ve been around them our entire lives, but a stranger from the outside can pick up on. I know I’ve inherited some strange ones from my parents and – after spending the last 4 days with Derek’s family – I know he has inherited some too.

For instance… Night had fallen by the time we made it back to Tampa this evening and I noticed none of the interior lights came on as everyone exited the vehicle. I was trying to locate my belonging in the backseat, so I politely asked Derek’s mom why the lights weren’t on – even though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer. She flicked the switch on and I heard her repeat the same phrase that Derek has uttered a million times, “we don’t want to accidentally kill the battery, do we?” I couldn’t help but let out a little giggle – like mother, like son. Derek says the same thing every time I bug him that the light doesn’t come on when the doors open in his car. He’s the only one I know that has that setup in his car and now I know where he gets it from.

When I told Derek about this, he just shrugged his shoulders and told me he really hadn’t thought much of it before. Like I said above, if it’s something we’ve done our entires lives, we don’t think it’s anything different until someone else points it out. I know Derek has pointed out a few of mine in the past, like when I leave the butt of the bread in the bag to ‘keep the bread fresh’ or when I place the syrup in the fridge because ‘that’s just where it goes.’ Both are things that my parents did and both are things I still do today.

Can you think of any habits your significant other have that he/she has picked up from their parents? What about any habits of your own?

The trip home was relatively quickly. I was able to work until my laptop battery died, then I proceeded to sleep the rest of the way home (it’s amazing how a little sleep speeds up any trip 😉 ).

I had an apple around 5:00