The Sun Chronicle's Living Well Editor, Jessica Kosowski, frequently seeks readers' thoughts on topics, and after she asked people to share ways in which they thought they had become like their mothers, I started thinking about how things I routinely tell my two daughters resemble the pearls of wisdom that my mother, gone 12 years, would say to my sister and me. So, with another Father's Day having just passed, here are some things I say that echo my Mom:

* Both girls, probably taking after their father, treat the floors and furniture as closets, leaving socks and shoes strewn about. That has forced me to utter the words, "Pick up your clothes (and shoes)" often. My words have been so effective that I estimate carrying 5,008 pairs of shoes up the stairs over the last several years.

* To save energy and water, we run our dishwasher on a less intense cycle, but it requires food to be cleaned off the dishes before being put in the machine. That has forced me to say, "Clean your dishes off" 4,988 times over the last few years, and the words are starting to sink in.

* Both girls like to be fashionable, which leads to the old "Make sure you wear the proper coat or jacket." They tend to want to wear fewer layers in the winter, seemingly thinking that if it's sunny out, it really can't be 20 degrees or colder, and they practically want to see my degree in meteorology when I suggest they take a raincoat because there's rain in the forecast. "It's not raining now," is a typical response, though lately it's my duty to watch or listen to the weather forecast to apprise them of the temperature and conditions when they leave for school.

* I've uttered the words, "wash your hands" before serving my younger daughter food more than I care to acknowledge. Ditto for the words "Come sit at the kitchen table" if you want to eat when she'd rather sit in the family room watching TV. * Water and puddles have always held an attraction for kids, and mine were no different. When they were young, I said, "Don't walk in the puddles" at least 13,909 times, and I still find myself saying it occasionally to my younger daughter.

* Picking up after themselves after a meal has prompted me to use the words "throw your trash in the basket" in the kitchen, as opposed to leaving it on the table, and I've told them to put the condiments back, the dishes in the dishwasher and the water back in the refrigerator more times than I care to admit. Progress is optimistically described as ongoing.

* Over the years, both daughters have given new definitions to the expression "in a minute," which is their typical response to requests to come in for dinner, do their homework or get ready for bed. Depending on their mood, and what preoccupies them at the moment, "in a minute" can mean anywhere from 2-4 minutes to 30 minutes or until the request has been repeated so many times that they're tired of hearing it repeated from a cranky parent.

The list could continue, but I'll end by saying that there's nothing that makes me sound like my mother any more than this exchange:

"Can I go to (a friend's house, swimming or somewhere else you're not ready to take them for various and sundry reasons)?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"Because I said so!"

"But why?"

"Because I'm your parent, and if you keep on bugging me, you won't go anywhere except to school or college until you've paid off your college loans." LARRY KESSLER is the father of a future eighth- and third-grader, neither of whom will be allowed to drive a car until they're at least 35, mainly because their old man won't be able to afford the car insurance until he can cash in his 401K or is deemed too old to drive by the Legislature, and needs a cheap mode of transportation. However, he doesn't blame his girls for his white and gray hair; he was born old and, unlike Benjamin Button, never got younger. He can be reached at lkessler@thesunchronicle.com.