practicing for Motherhood

Today I happened to be in the hallway as the 4th graders were coming in from recess and heading hungrily to the lunchroom. One girl's coat fell off the hook, so she called to her classmate to 'hang up my coat for me!' The other girl, who was carefully taking off her coat and gloves and hat, calls back, 'No! It's not my responsibility to take care of your things!' My mind raced quickly forward and I could almost see her as a Mother saying those exact words to her children. Perhaps her Mother now says that to her. And we wonder how we turn into our Mothers, when we vowed we would never do that. :)