Mommy-isms

I love Mommy-isms.

I've often wondered what my own children will remember me saying. What things did I repeat over and over again that revealed my values, or my neuroses?

I haven't yet recorded those ideas that have been guideposts in my life, but I did get to thinking about some cartoons that I've seen over the years that I have never forgotten. Some of them became guideposts. Here's a few:


On cleaning house:
"Cleaning house while children are still growing is like shoveling the walk while it is still snowing."

On leftovers:
"You liked beans on Monday. You liked beans on Tuesday. You liked beans on Wednesday. Now all of a sudden on Thursday you don’t like beans?"

On disciplining kids (a picture of a father spanking a child over his knees):
"This will teach you not to hit!"

On picky eaters:
"Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he's buying." --Fran Lebowitz

On family relations:
"Men and children are like wet spaghetti: they can't be pushed; they can only be pulled."

On choices:
"Our future is shaped by our past--so be very careful what you do in your past." --Ziggy


It helped to know that--
"If it was going to be easy to raise kids, it wouldn't have started with something called 'labor'."


One last quote that saw me through:

"To get the whole world out of bed
And washed, and dressed, and warmed, and fed,
To work, and back to bed again,
Believe me, Saul, costs worlds of pain." --John Masefield