Like Mother, Like Daughter

When I was younger, I always thought I was more like my daddy.  As I've grown up, I can see a lot of my Mom in me, too.  I like to think the two balance each other out, although I can see more good AND bad from each of them sometimes, too.  When you look at a picture of myself and my mom, our smiles are almost exactly the same.  I have cowlicks from my dad's side of the family and brown eyes like him.  I'm built like my mom, but I have my dad's skin tones.  Personality-wise, I have a bit of each of them, too.  I worry like my dad, but I'm crafty like my mom.  I learned to cook more from my dad, although my mom taught me to bake.  I have a temper more like my dad, and the ability to see irony in life like my mom.  However, there is one thing I wish I hadn't inherited from my mom and one thing I wish I had.
I wish I had not inherited her inability to say "no" quite so much.  I have a to-do list a whole page long right now and haven't even listed everything on it yet.  And so, when I got another email today asking if I could make one more thing, I said "yes, but you'll have to wait until I get a few other things done."  She was fine with that, but I still said "yes."  Not "no."
The thing I wish I had inherited a bit better is her cleaning-ness.  I know that's probably not a word, but I used it anyway.  Growing up, it seems like we cleaned every Saturday -- dusting, vacuuming, laundry.  In my house, well . . . here is my dirty little secret (pun intended).  I'm lucky if I vacuum twice or three times a year.  And dusting is about the same.  Mopping . . . that's even worse.  And let's not even discuss bathrooms.  My mom is coming for Thanksgiving and I'm very excited.  Until I look around my house and think, "AH!"  I need to clean!  So, for the last few days, I've started cleaning.  I've found my dining room table except for three stacks -- super amazing!  I vacuumed the living room and found the floor of my sewing room.  I made my husband put up all his laundry so I can actually see a bedroom instead of a walk-in closet.  Now, on to the bathrooms, kitchen, and little thing like trying to get most of the cat hair off the couch.  My sister is coming, too, and she and her husband are allergic.  I'm still excited.  Just wishing I had more of my mom's discipline when it came to cleaning so that it wasn't such a big job when I finally get around to it.