Things My Momma Said

Things my Momma Told Me

We have all heard that eventually become our mothers. I fear it's true. Any parent will tell you that as a child they were never going to say certain things. Inevitably, we do. Andy Andrews, a motivational speaker has a video on "youtube" of the 50 most used parental phrases, you can view it here.

Of course some things can’t be re- used. My mother said she needed to make a tape recording of “Mary tuck your shirt tail in- Barbara tie your shoes” Mom just didn’t understand that we were way ahead of our time. Today no one tucks their shirt tail in (wonder how many kids even know what a shirt tail is) and if kids have shoe strings rather than Velcro how many know how to tie them?

Like me, Jessica could trip over a thread on the carpet but she has changed that to tripping over a wireless phone cord. Close enough to get her a dislocated knee from taking out the trash.

Other phrases are timeless…”Look at the back of your neck, it’s filthy!” I have actually heard myself say that even though as a child I remember hearing it and thinking “How am I going to see the back of my neck???”

One I never used is “Why did you do that?” My husband used it all the time with our son….to the point it became a litany. That question suggests that the child thought the action out. Imagine that mental conversation. “What should I do next- gee what if I threw a rock at the side of the house- that might be fun- maybe I’ll get lucky and it will hit the window and break it- yea that would be fun, then dad will chase me down-more fun-and then he can ask me his favorite question.”

Just once, when asked “why did you do that?” I’d have loved to hear Bennie say “ Because I’m mean and rotten and I want to make your life miserable!” Alas, Bennie never did. I have to wonder if Ellie (my perfect adorable granddaughter) will think of saying it to Bennie in a few years when he asked her that truly stupid question.

Then there are the funny things my mother told me. Like:

“It’s easier to pick a good horse than a good man, because you know the horse will never turn into a jackass” I have faithfully repeated that one to my daughter- every time I get mad at her father.