Lessons When Growing Up: "Things My Mother Taught Me"

Forum member Ben Sanchez e-mailed me the piece below way back in 2010 and asked me to share it with everybody. I told him I sure will.

My Mother taught me LOGIC...

“If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can't go to the store with me.”

My Mother taught me MEDICINE...

“If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they're going to freeze that way.”

 

 My Mother taught me TO THINK AHEAD...

“If you don’t pass your spelling test, you’ll never get a good job!”

 

My Mother taught me ESP...

“Put your sweater on; don’t you think that I know when you’re cold?”

My Mother taught me TO MEET A CHALLENGE...

“What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you... Don’t talk back to me!”

My Mother taught me HUMOR...

“When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”

My mother taught me ABOUT SEX...

“How do you think you got here?”

My mother taught me about GENETICS...

“You are just like your father!”

My mother taught me about my ROOTS...

“Do you think you were born in a barn?”

My Mother taught me how to BECOME AN ADULT...

“If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.

My mother taught me about the WISDOM of AGE...

“When you get to be my age, you will understand.”

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION...

“Just wait until your Father gets home.”

My mother taught me about RECEIVING...

“You are going to get it when we get home.”

And my all-time favorite thing—JUSTICE…

“One day you will have kids, and I hope they turn out just like YOU…then you’ll see what it’s like.”

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N.B. The photos in this collection of motherly advice are latter-day additions by the Forum.