I worked with a teacher who used to mutter "apples and trees, apples and trees." It was her way of explaining the behaviors of students after meeting their parents. Shorthand for "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
My husband and I used to joke (sort of) that we would divvy up our children's parent conferences by whoever's habits the offending behavior most resembled. i.e. talking out of turn, clowning around, he has to go; obstinance or questioning the teacher? I'll clear my schedule.
There's a lot of truth to "apples and trees."
Now that I'm a parent, I hear it as a challenge to confront my own bad habits, even my posture. What kind of adults do I want my children to become?
I have to work to be THAT kind of tree, because it's the most likely kind of apples I'll grow.