My mother died young, before I was published. Whenever I reach a milestone, I wish she was with me. The other day, however, I realized how much her advice/dictates from my childhood have affected my life and my writing.
Stop reading and go to sleep.
I especially need to remember this when I’m on a marathon session. After a few nights of spotty sleep, I’m a basket case.
The world is waiting for you, sunshine.
In other words, go outside and play!
Take care of your things and you’ll have them forever.
I can’t tell you how many things I have that are decades old. I do try to recycle my technology, however, before it becomes worthless.
Buy the best – it will save you money in the end.
I think my mother was talking about Chanel suits in this case, but I translate it to computers. I have the fastest, biggest computer I can afford and it has always been a blessing.
Check and make sure you don’t have lipstick on your teeth.
Don’t let people see all your errors.
For heaven’s sake, smile!
Always put a good face on bad situations.
Be kind to everyone.
It doesn’t matter who someone is, he’s important.
You really need to fix your hair.
Appearances do matter.
I never taught you to live like this.
Mostly said in my adolescence. I’ve translated it to mean: Clean my office!
Never argue with your father.
I’ve taken this to mean: don’t argue with authority. Besides, there’s a time and place to pick your battles. (And I’m not above being subversive.)
How about you? Any priceless advice from your childhood?
Your ‘Buy the Best’ reminds me of something my grandmother used to say. “If you’ve gotta go….go first class!”
My mom always said “If you lie down with dogs you end up with fleas.” So true…..
I love that expression of your mom’s. I’ve always thought it was so true!
Reblogged this on littlewonder2.
Thank you!
Mother’s always know best….I do….because I am a mother…lol
We are wise little crones, aren’t we?
Karen, I like your mother, she reminds me of my Mom. I guess all mothers say the same kind of things.
One of the things my mom used to say all the time was “what would people say?”. So you were to never embarrass yourself in any way because people would talk.
Oh, man, Rita. I grew up in a family where my father was bucking for general back when he was a major. EVERYTHING was accompanied by that unsaid comment – how will this impact your father’s career?
“Quality not quantity” was our family’s thought when it came to buying things to last. With five kids, things had to last long enough to be ‘handed down’ and used by another. LOL!
I remember my mom always exclaiming, “if everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you go too?” Consequently, I’ve never been a trend follower. I’ve always had my own look, my own way of doing things, and my own thoughts. I’ve also never hesitated to say ‘no’ to things I should say ‘no’ to and never worried about what other people think of me. Thanks Mom! : )
My brother, when he was 11, decided he was Superman. He put a towel around his shoulders and jumped off the garage. He was in double casts for months. The saying then became, “Are YOU going to jump off the garage, too?”
My Mom also died way too young. She always kept saying: Keep the peace. I think the only thing I got from that remark was to try and make people feel comfortable. Thus, I love to entertain. When we lived in Paris and my husband had a big technical conference in the NATO countries, I always went along with him to serve as the unofficial “Mom” of the group to lead the wives on the sightseeing programs that were planned for us.
I miss my Mom and although I did not inherit her quietness (I tend to say what I think), I do TRY to control myself here and there!!
The only time I was chosen to lead a group was during a certain wine tasting tour of the Champagne region. I absolutely adamantly deny that anyone was snockered on the bus ride. Or that the whole bus was rowdy.
It’s a good thing we didn’t run into each other in France, Connie. We would have had “persona non grata” stamped on our passports as they kicked us out.
Amy, I also got the “if someone jumped off a bridge….would you jump too” thing. As a small child I always wanted to be accepted by everyone. By the age of 12, I started dancing to my own music. I have ever since
Two things animal related have stuck in my mind like glue. My dad caught me spanking my cat for catching and killing a rabbit and he told me that Scooter was just doing what came natural to him and I should never punish him for that. (I was 6 and wasn’t spanking hard for I loved this cat beyond reason) Dad made his point. The other time, I found a baby bird that fell from it’s nest. It barely had any feathers on it. I took it to my dad to ask for his help getting it back into it’s nest which we could never see. He told me that the mother bird would probably not have anything to do with the bird now because it had my scent on it. We did try to find the nest and ended up making a place with pine needles to lay it on close to where I found it. I can’t remember ever going back to look to see if it was gone. My dad was never mean when he told me these things, even though I felt such guilt over them. He was trying to teach me the way of life with animals. It’s funny looking back that I felt guilt when learning lessons. I’m going to have to think on why that was.
I think what my mother tried to instill in me growing up was just to be myself and to be nice to everyone, even those who treated me awful.
I wonder if it was guilt, Leah, or just sorrow. Sometimes, they feel the same.
One of my most impactful memories as a child was seeing my dog, Lady, being carried from the back yard in a basket. She had died of poisoning, we thought. Since I was the last one to feed her, I felt terrible and wondered if I’d accidentally poisoned her. (I was 7.)
I started having nightmares of a white dog. My father, in one of the sweetest memories I have of him, (how odd to just recall it), came and sat on the edge of my bed one night, telling me how he’d had nightmares of a bull chasing him as a boy. When I giggled and said a bull couldn’t get in the house, he nodded, then said that Lady wouldn’t come back to haunt me, either.
My dear grandmother was somewhat of a Southern Belle (if one can be such a thing in Galveston, Texas). As a child, I would sometimes go with her to her DAR or Wednesday Club “society” meetings. Before we got out of the car she would always say, “Now don’t forget….don’t ask anybody how they are unless you really want to hear about it.” I made that mistake only once.Sheesh. Grandmothers are smart people! Thanks! That memory just made me smile and miss that dear, sweet lady.
Oh, I think Texas Southern Belles are the best kind (I am one).
Aren’t we both blessed to have had such great grandmothers? Mine didn’t mince words – and pretty much taught me oodles about life.
Feeling a bit maudlin today.
I love my da and when I was young he would do room inspections which included our dresser drawers. All clothes had to be folded and neat. If 1 thing was messy he emptied the drawers onto the floor and we had to refold everything. Sam went for doing dishes, if he found one thing that had a spek of food on it we had to rewash everything. In any of our chores that we did if it wasn’t done right we had to go do it again. I thank him for that. Now my kids hear the same thing my da always said .
“Anything worth doing is worth doing right.” and “Anything worth doing right is worth doing right the first time.” How I hated those words as a kid but how as an adult I can appreciate them and things not done half-assed as he used to say.
The day my da leaves this word I think half my heart will die.
Z
In all likelihood I also heard those ‘mom-isms’ growing up, however I don’t remember them. And I would rather not remember the things I do remember. Not as blessed as all of you – enjoyed reding about yours, though.