Things your parents used to say...

[markbell]

"If you get arrested, don't give your right name."

[Cynth]

I always had trouble doing story problems in arithmetic. My Dad would try to help me (the sessions generally ended up in hollering) and I can't count the number of times he started out, trying to be patient, with:

Pop: "First you write down what you know."

Okay, John has 2 oranges, Mary has 6 oranges.

Pop: "Then you write down what you need to know."

Well, if I could do that, would I be sittin' here cryin'? Geez!

[Nanohedron]

"If you get taken away in an ambulance, you'll want to have clean underwear on."

"You must have said something to cause it."

"Don't go visiting unless you get an invitation."

She must have had a truckload of concerns about me. Needless to say it's taken me years to loosen up. I still hew to the last one, though. Well, okay, I'm big on clean undies, too.

[susnfx]

"It won't kill you to walk."

[Teri-K]

"It won't kill you to walk."

Sounds very much like my Mom, Susan.

"You're younger than I am", and "That dish rag (dish towel, dust rag, broomstick, mop handle) will fit your hand". Just like Dubhlinn's Ma, she made the hand filling comparison for wishes, but chose a more solid subtance.

Dad always measured things in weeks. "You'll wake up in the middle of next week", and "You'll have to eat from the mantle for a week". I suppose it was better than the threat of a month.

[Cynth]

I'm big on clean undies, too.

I wonder what happened with your socks then?

[IRTradRU?]

"You kids are going to drive me to the nuthouse!"

"If the ___(family name here)___ kids jumped off the ____(name of river)___ Bridge, I suppose you'd jump right along with them, right?"

"How many times do I have to tell you?"


Although clearly rhetorical in nature, that last one actually elicited a response from me, when I was 16 years old. I very sharply retorted, "Six."

And there I was, standing just a few inches from my Mom, looking down at her (I had passed her in height a couple of years earlier). The next thing I knew, her right hand was hitting the left side of my face - hard. "How'd that happen?" I thought, trying to hold back the tears. "Man, she's quick!"

I never crossed my Mom again. Ever.

[Walden]

This morning a little incident threw me back to my high school days and something I was told by my parents a thousand times: "Don't drag Main."

Main Street in our little town was about 8-9 blocks long. The main recreation for teenagers was to "drag Main" which meant to drive back and forth several hundred times a night - always turning around at the same spots - waving to friends who were also dragging Main, honking at friends hanging out at the pool hall or coming out of the movie theater, giving tourists a hard time...

The teenagers in this town seem to have little else to do. They don't go no 8-9 blocks though. Maybe 2-3 blocks. Just circling round and round on Saturday nights. Drives my sister batty.

There's a girl we know, she's only about five years younger than me, but much younger, emotionally. She's always calling wanting us to go drag main with her.

[missy]

Life is not fair - get used to it.

What do you want ME to do about it?

Saying you are just like your father is NOT a way to get sympathy from me......

Oh - wait - these are things I say!!!!


Missy

[Danner]

At least once a week my mom yells at me, "Would you please stop whistling in the car, it's driving me nuts." (Luckily she means mouth whistling, not whistling using a whistle.)

[rebl_rn]

My dad had two:

Whenever there would be a light left on in a room noone was occupying, he would ask, "Who's reading in the __________ room?"

And seeing shoes scattered all over the hallway/family room/kitchen/stairs or wherever they happened to be: "What is this, the National Shoe Depository?" (There were 9 people living in the house, so there often were a LOT of shoes).

[Nanohedron]

I'm big on clean undies, too.

I wonder what happened with your socks then?

I am only human. Alas.

[OnTheMoor]

This morning a little incident threw me back to my high school days and something I was told by my parents a thousand times: "Don't drag Main."

Main Street in our little town was about 8-9 blocks long. The main recreation for teenagers was to "drag Main" which meant to drive back and forth several hundred times a night - always turning around at the same spots - waving to friends who were also dragging Main, honking at friends hanging out at the pool hall or coming out of the movie theater, giving tourists a hard time...

Whenever my parents would have me run an errand it was always followed by a stern warning about getting sidetracked. "Run to the store and get a loaf of bread - DON'T DRAG MAIN."

Anybody else's parents have favorite warnings?

Susan

That's funny. I was at a wedding in a small (ex)mining town in Cape Breton. After the wedding, my gf's grandmother got everyone together to "Shoot the Drag".

[thurlowe]

I'm going to steal an old boyfriend's mom's gloomy phrase that won't leave my head, unfortunately. I try not to say it out loud every time I see an impending disaster (ie, child running obstacle course in living room with sharp-edged coffee table). I end up thinking it a lot: "Laughing turns to crying."

[Jennie]

"Laughing turns to crying."

"There's a boo-hoo egg in that tee-hee nest."

Jennie