Momma-isms 101: Ladies, what did your mom's always say to you when you were growing up?

Jennifer - posted on 09/18/2012

Kimberly Ellavich, LOL my mom always said one of two things when we threatened to run away. 1. If you do I will just hunt you down like a dog (this one was confusing as a child.)

2. You better take everything thing that belongs to you and I mean everything! Your bed, dresser, cloths, toys, everything!

I use the second my hubby looks at me and says sweet one less mouth to feed and more room for my stuff. LOL Mine with my girls is when they say "I hate you!" "That's okay you can hate me for now just remember that no matter what you say or do I love you more then you think is possible."



Mandalynn I thought my mom was the only one to threaten to hang us by our toes or toenails!

Mandalynn - posted on 09/18/2012

My mom always told us she was going to " hang us up by our toes" she was always very convincing when she said this of course... usually with a smile ;) But my favorite line was " Can't is a bad word, try again. "

Dana - posted on 09/14/2012

My mom always told us " you'll catch more flies with Honey than you will with vinegar" to this day if I have a conflict or issue with a product or service I'm always very pleasent with the supervisor never rude or offensive and I've always been satisfied with the outcome. Also I've noticed my resolution is generally better that the mean Guy s who called screaming mad.

Thanks Mom

Kimberly - posted on 09/13/2012

When we would get into a fight i would yell I'm gonna run away she would say if your gonna run away you better leave naked that's the way you came to me, that's the you will leave me!!! LOl I have never used that one yet!

Jenny - posted on 09/01/2012

I love this thread!



Annoying things she said:



"You'll see when you grow up and have your own kids, I hope they'll be just like you."

I can't believe how many of you have had a variation of this said to you lol, I thought I had the meanest mum when she said this, so nope, I won't be using this one.



"It will all pass by the time you get married."

This did not help me, it made no sense, when you're only 7 and marriage is such a long way away, or especially when in your head your like "I'm never going to get married!" its a bit pointless.

I think this is something adults say to keep themselves chill, more than for the kids, and that's okay I guess, as long as its helping someone lol.



"Well, in our family it doesn't work that way."

Argggghh! lol. But why not mum??

I actually think I will use this one, explain that each family is different, with different rules, and that's just the way the world works. I will try to address the WHY a bit more than my mum did though, because this one would really bug me as a kid.





Something helpful that stuck with me to this day:



"If you have work to do, and there is still time in the day to do it, do it today, don't leave it for tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own tasks to do, and wouldn't you be glad you won't have today's chores too?"

It probably didn't sink in till my late teens, but since then I have tried my best to do as much as I can do "today" so I don't get overwhelmed with too much in one day.

Kristina - posted on 09/01/2012

The one my mom use to say and still does "It is not what you said, it was how you said it!" I did not understand what she meant when I was younger, but now I do. I try to convey the same idea to my children in a different way. I figure if I did not understand what it meant, they will not either and the lesson I am trying to teach is useless. The other one she still says and so do I when my children complain about being thirsty "hi thirsty, I'm Friday come over Saturday and we'll have a Sunday."

Morgan - posted on 08/31/2012

The only one I can remember right now is "Do you need a tissue"? She'd say this everytime we had a finger near or in our nose. For some reason I think this works much better than saying "Don't pick your nose".

Laura - posted on 08/31/2012

my mom also used to tell us that if we eat our veggies it'll put hair on our chest. Which we always found so funny since she had 3 girls!

Laura - posted on 08/31/2012

Things my mom would say:



"Your hair looks like Raggedy Anns" or "It looks like you have a bird's nest in your hair"

"It'll all come out in the wash" (and I have learned that it really does, so no sense in over stressing about things!)

"You and your sisters sound like a herd of elephants upstairs!"

"Hurry up, quick like a bunny"

Carrie - posted on 08/28/2012

I used this phrase just today and thought about my mom, well, I guess because her words rolled off my tongue!



My 3 yr. old daughter said to me today after our pet bird sang his morning song... "I HATE that bird!"



I said, "now, honey, HATE's a strong word... let's use something else to talk about how we feel about the bird." So, she and I together decided to start saying the words "don't like" instead!. :)

Shaunna - posted on 08/28/2012

my mum used to say hope you have a child like you one day I never used to understand it but now I do my daughter tantrums alot when she don't get her own way :)

Jenni - posted on 08/27/2012

Whenever any of us kids would get snarky with my mom or be a smarty alec, she would say, remember where you came from........Now I haven't used this on my kids yet, she said it tho us when we got older. She meant it in a way of saying don't forget how you made entry into this world.......ha. Love it

Tammy - posted on 08/27/2012

My Mum would always say, "you'll be sorry when I'm gone."

Now a days she starts many of our conversations with "I won't be here then, but..."

Grumble...

What can I say, I love her no matter what. :)

And what I've learned from that is, never to say those sad words to my daughter...

Bethany - posted on 08/25/2012

haha, these are great.

If I asked my Mum what something was, she'd say 'a wigwam for a goose's bridle' because that's what her mum said to her.

My maternal nana said 'if you can't be good, be careful'

My Dad always said, on sending me off, 'Do good things' It was his salutation every time.



When I needed to clean up my room, she'd say 'start from the door and work your way in.' A place for everything and everything in its place. I say this to my daughter, I tell her pick one thing up and decide where it goes or give it away, or throw it away, If you can't decide, give it to me and I'll throw it away for you.

Lindsay - posted on 08/25/2012

Just stay home!!!!!!



My Mom's best advice for raising obedient, well-behaved children and keeping yourself from getting to stressed!!!



I love it!!! :D

Julie - posted on 08/25/2012

She ALWAYS would say,

"The world does not revolve around you Julie."

"You'd lose your head if it wasn't attached."

"Your room looks like a BOMB hit it!"

"I can't wait til you have a daughter and she is just like you"



Advice she gave was:

If you don't have anything nice to say...don't say it at all.

Kill em with kindness.

Stand up straight, shoulders back, chin up and stomach in.

Love thy neighbor as your self.

Turn the other cheek

Pride comes before the fall.

Honesty is the best policy.

and Remember where they came from. Just to name a few!

Amanda - posted on 08/24/2012

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything.



You always get paid back for being nasty (referring to karma - what goes around comes around)

Emily - posted on 08/24/2012

Another one my mum used to do: She'd say, "Here's my finger" (she'd hold up her thumb); "Here's my thumb" (she'd hold up her index finger and then point it at my like a gun); "I'm going to shoot you with my gun!". I know it's not awfullly pc, but we kids used to end up in hysterics laughing from that one.

Emily - posted on 08/24/2012

Here's another story: I grew up in America but live in England where my children were born. My (English) friend and I do the school run together with her kids. One day, her son picked up an old nail (he picks up everything for some reason). She was trying to get him to put it down so I said, echoing my mother, "You'll get lock jaw and die if you're not careful". My friend's boy looked incredulous but then his mum backed me up. She said later that her mum said the same thing to her as a kid. That and the one about catching pneumonia. I guess some of these sayings are common for most mums.

Phebs - posted on 08/23/2012

LOL! My mum's quote always had to do with clean under pants. The answer to everything was make sure u have a spare pair of clean under pants - just incase.



Make sure u have a spare pair of clean underpants, if u have an accident (and me being young would ask, what kind of accident - do u mean like if I got hit by a bus.) And she would say yes, incase u got hit by a bus, u could quickly change ur underpants before the ambulance got there and no one would know that u wet ur pants. And I would respond totally puzzled - why would I bother changing my underpants if I was just hit by a bus???

Sometimes I would really be baffled as a kid. I think I was about grade1 or 2.

Nikki - posted on 08/22/2012

"if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"

COMIS - posted on 08/21/2012

Me: "Mom my foot hurts when I touch it." (or whatever was hurting)
My Mom: "Then don't touch it."

I probably will use this.

Schmoopy - posted on 08/21/2012

"The difficult road is usually the right one."

Emily - posted on 08/21/2012

My mother used to say all sorts of things to me as a kid. I have fun with them with my son, but my daughter is another kettle of fish. She's so literal about everything that I have to watch what I say sometimes because she doesn't interpret it the same way as my son. For instance:



My mother used to say when we had a scrape, cut or bruise, "It will be better before you get married". My 4 year old daughter had a cut on her foot that she complained about for days despite having reduced to a mere mark. After another plea for a plaster, I told her, "It will be better before you get married". A few days later the mark disappeared. She looked for it and said, "It's better. I'm married now". She's been going on about it ever since! Very funny child.

:-)

Patricia - posted on 08/20/2012

my mother said to me you made your bed then you lie in it don't use that with my kids i think iy is a bit harsh espically when you are young

Danielle - posted on 08/20/2012

One thing I will always remember my mother saying is "The choices you make now will effect you the rest of your life. Make good choices." she said this to me when I was a teen of course and it turns out to be true :) I plan on saying the same thing to my daughter when the time comes.

Wendy - posted on 08/18/2012

One saying I remember is "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit". I use it a lot with my kids, specially at meal times when everyone wants something different to eat.

Chesnie - posted on 08/13/2012

My mom used to say"I hope you have a child just like you" ...lol. She's only 3. She will be I'm sure...

Nicola - posted on 08/11/2012

When I couldn't find my mum I'd call out "Where are you?". She would answer "I'm outside standing on my head." meaning I'm here doing nothing much. I use it too. Usually when I'm outside hanging clothes on the line.

Carrie - posted on 08/10/2012

After I got spanked, my mom would look at me EVERY time and say, "you know I love you, I just don't like what you were doing." I didn't get spanked all that much, but when I did, I would just say the line in unison with her and then we'd both start laughing!

And, I usually don't torture my kids by saying that line too often when they are corrected. :)

Casey - posted on 08/09/2012

I keep thinking of other mom-isms that I just have to share. One my mom would say when I got bored. "Go play cobby." We would fallow up w/ a whats cobby? she would then say I dont know go find out. I use it on my kids. This one loose effectiveness really quick but it kind of funny the first few times. I find myself using a lot of dadisms seeing as Ive had to play mom and dad w/ my son. " Hi Thirsty/Hungry/Bored/ect. Im Mommy/Dad."

Tracie - posted on 08/09/2012

"I don't know. Let's look it up!"

This has inspired my life-long love of learning new things. Thanks, mom!

Danielle - posted on 08/08/2012

My favorite is :Just wait until you have children! It will come back and bite you in the butt. It certainly did for my sister!

Brittany - posted on 08/07/2012

This one is from my maternal grandmother, she would always tell my mom that a little birdy told her to explain how she knew that my mom had done something wrong. She would often use it on us as well. I was always amazed how even if my mom wasn't home, and I'd clean up my tracks, that she knew.

I haven't used it yet, but mine are a bit young to wonder how I knew.

Pua - posted on 08/07/2012

When I was a kid I was super active and always wanting to do anything and everything! She'd always look me in the eye and say,"Don't bite off more than you can chew-you'll burn out!" I totally know what she means now, but then I was like whatever, I am going to conquer the whole entire world! That's a great -ism! I share that with my kids who are just like their mom-super active and into everything and anything! Visit my blog-http://momma-isms101.blogspot.com for more -isms, etc.!

Pua - posted on 08/07/2012

I totally love this posting! You have some great ones! I know how it is when you feel like you've heard it all your life and then you're like, I am DEFINITELY NOT using that one! It's a good thing you've chosen what you're bringing to your children in terms of -isms! I find myself thinking about it before I say it! Thanks!!!

Jennifer - posted on 08/07/2012

My mother used one of the normal Dadisms often and it makes more sense form her " I brought you into this world and I can take you our of it!" I don't use this one. "Because I said so." I do use this one. And "To make you ask questions... it worked didn't it?" guilty this one is given when asked why you said or did something expectantly when it was something that was an not planned LOL.

Sandy - posted on 08/06/2012

"If you want something, you ask for it." I use this on my daughter all the time. ☺ I also add on. "...and if you don't get it, move on to the next thing."

"I saw that!" I haven't had to use this one yet, but I probably will later. ☺

"See what happens?!" I have used this once in a while on my daughter.

Now, you have to imagine those quotes from my mother in an Asian mother accent, like one of the mothers from the Joy Luck Club or an annoyed Ms. Swan. ☺

Stifler's - posted on 08/06/2012

blah blah blahsomething blah blah blah

Casey - posted on 08/05/2012

Oh my there are a lot. The main one that I can think if is "because I said so" I use that on a daily basis but what mama doesn't.

Chesnie - posted on 08/04/2012

My mom always said "if you're shy you go hungry" Ohhhhh I throw that back at her Quite a bit..lol