Mirror mirror on the wall, I am my mother after all

I've been thinking a lot lately about the imaginary children that I will have someday. Okay that already came out wrong. I don't mean that someday I will have imaginary children. They will be real. They are only imaginary right now. Anyway, I was thinking about all the things that my mother did that and I swore I would never do, and I realized that I'm actually going to do all of them. My kids will have a bedtime and a curfew. They will not watch tv and play on the computer all day. Cell phones are absolutely out of the question until they reach high school (we'll see if that one is still practical by the time these kids actually show up, but for now that's the way it's going to be) and if they don't like what I've fixed for dinner, tough. I'm not cooking five different meals every night to satisfy my family of picky eaters.

I used to think that my mom did these things to torture me. Now I know that they were actually for my own benefit. I'm not addicted to the tube, I can entertain myself with a book, and I know the value of a good night's sleep. The only thing that I am sure I will do differently than my mom is that I will not give my kids a name and then call them something else entirely for the rest of their lives. Although they might wish that I would because my current top three favorite names are Priscilla, Prudence and Frances (I love the nickname Francie). But I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself. This is not happening anytime soon. Unless the phrases "born in a manger" or "immaculate conception" come into play somehow. So don't worry, future children. I'm not ready to start torturing you. Yet.