I was so fortunate to be raised by two loving, generous, good-humored, hungry, ball-busting parents. Both my mom and dad taught me a plethora of life lessons that range from real to ridiculous. Oooh manโฆ these parents of mine loooooove a good life lesson. They relish it. My mama, in particular, is full of hearty gemstones for living. She didnโt teach me much about eye-liner or kitten heelsโฆ that I sort of figured out on my own (by making soooo many mistakes trying to copy Blossom). Mama-knowledge was more along the lines of โyou know I raised you better than that, now act right and eat your appleโ. The older I get the more I appreciate the woman who raised meโฆ mostly because the older I get the more I realize what a ridiculous youth I must have been to endure. Sheโs a strong one and I feel blessed to have her.
Mama Says (or heavily implies):
โ Do not steal a personโs scissors. More specifically, do not steal my scissors. Just because you see scissors in the house does not mean theyโre your scissors. Theyโre for fabric, not construction paper. Do not make the mistake of stealing my scissors. Thank you.
โ Weโre going to hem your pants and youโre not going to like it, but weโre going to do it anyway. I donโt care if your friends at school donโt hem their pants. If your friends at school tripped and fell off a bridge because they didnโt hem their pants, would you trip and fall off a bridge too? No. Youโre welcome.
โ Always leave a place cleaner than you found it. This often means cleaning a bathroom you do not want to clean. Do itโฆ even though you donโt want to.
โ No, you can not borrow my calligraphy pens. Thank you for asking nicely. Stillโฆ no.
โ Be the best of you that you can be.
โ โShut-upโ is a bad word. (Joyโs personal amendment: unless you mean it in a good way.)
โ Donate everything. Mostly your time and your clothes.
โ Happy 12th birthday. Iโm going to teach you how to do your own laundry now. Thatโs that.
โ Hand-wash means wash by hand. Follow directions.
โ Donโt do it. Youโll get pregnant. You really willโฆ donโt do it.
โ Donโt you dare come in this house pregnant if you donโt mean to be pregnant. I donโt care if youโre 31.
โ Youโre hungry? Eat an apple. You donโt want an apple? You must not be hungry.
โ Yes I have Tums in my purse. No, Joyโฆ theyโre not candy. Get a hold of yourself. Do you want an apple? You must not be hungry. Againโฆ Tums are not candy.
โ I donโt put up with nonsense and I didnโt teach you to put up with nonsense either.
โ Doing things you donโt want to do when youโre a kid is really good practice for a being an adult and doing all the things that you donโt want to doโฆ thatโs why weโre picking you up from your best friends sleepover party early on Sunday morning and dragging you to church when none of your other friends have to leave early and go to church. Itโs ok that itโs not fair. Itโs ok that youโre whining. Youโre learning discipline and itโs a reeaallllyyy hard lesson to learn.
โ Because I said so.
โ Be braver than you think you can be. Take my lead.
196 Responses
Sounds like your mom and mine were cut from the same cloth. Her ultimate compliment is, โI can see you are going hard places and staying there longer. Iโm proud of you.โ Thereโs a glory to suffering in that generation.
Thank you, Joy.
Oh Joy. I love this. Your Mom totally rocks. Also, I think you need to re-vamp this up on the podcast too (aka share stories that go along with the points). Along with your happy 21st birthday list. Thanks much. :)
I love that you know how lucky you are to have a mother like the one youโve got. We are not all so lucky.
I like your mom. She reminds me of me!
Are you at the Nut Tree in that photo in VacavilleโฆI used to go there as a childโฆ.remembering the rocking horses.
Loved this list. Growing up, my momโs simple piece of advice to me was this: โUntil you screw up, I trust you. Once you screw up, you lose that trust. Donโt screw up.โ I find myself repeating this to my stepdaughter on a regular basis. Moms rule.
Ah, the scissors! My mom used to get SO mad when Iโd confiscated her sewing scissors!
The scissors thing. Yes โ that scissors thing. That I NEVER understood until I had my own good Ghinger shears and cared about making stuff. And now I understand the scissors thing. And now I say all that same stuff about scissors to anyone in the house who will listen.
You are so lucky to have such a smart, loving, kick-ass Mother.
I loved this recollection of your mom โ so much of what you wrote is just the same as my wonderful mom.
Itโs official. I love your mom.
Joy โ are you at the Nut Tree? I think I would recognize those horses anywhere. This post is very sweet. Your mom and did done good : )
It was a very intersting article but I wish you would increase the font sizeโฆI can relate a lot to your mumโฆif thats ok with you coz she is a lot like mineโฆyou r luckyโฆ.make the print darker and the font size bigger ..please
Love this! Sounds just like my mama, too! Iโm so grateful for having a mom (and dad) who taught me respect, self-discipline, sacrifice, and the value of hard work! Iโm an elementary teacher, and let me tell yaโฆthey donโt make many mamaโs like that anymore! I fear the future of my little ones who live in a time where immediate gratification and selfishness is valued over the values I was taught as a child.
Hi Joy!! Iโm a new subscriber to your blog. I LOVE this post. Sounds so much like the things my mom used to say to meโฆand I am now saying to my own three kids!! Like you Iโm passionate about foodโฆabout life. Self-taughtโฆ.by my parentsโฆand my tastebuds ;) Iโm looking forward to readingโฆand baking more! God bless you
Jessica
Thank you for posting this. Such wonderful reminders. And now that I am a mom myself, I appreciate these lessons sooooo much more.
iโm a new mama and want to be like your mama. she rocks.
I think our moms are secretly related.
No need to re-read what you have already written. However, below, I copied the life lessons that made me laugh, smile and say, Iโll be sure to do or say those same things to my own kid one day.
โ Donโt you dare come in this house pregnant if you donโt mean to be pregnant. I donโt care if youโre 31.
โ Youโre hungry? Eat an apple. You donโt want an apple? You must not be hungry.
โ I donโt put up with nonsense and I didnโt teach you to put up with nonsense either.
โ Doing things you donโt want to do when youโre a kid is really good practice for a being an adult and doing all the things that you donโt want to doโฆ thatโs why weโre picking you up from your best friends sleepover party early on Sunday morning and dragging you to church when none of your other friends have to leave early and go to church. Itโs ok that itโs not fair. Itโs ok that youโre whining. Youโre learning discipline and itโs a reeaallllyyy hard lesson to learn.
โ Be braver than you think you can be. Take my lead.
SHUT UP. I love this, Joy. LOVE.
Omg my mom said the same thing! โ- Youโre hungry? Eat an apple. You donโt want an apple? You must not be hungry.โ
Must be a mom thing. Itโs hard to admit that theyโre right.
I love the part about the fabric scissors. I donโt know how many times my mom said that to me growing up. Now I say it to other people who enter my house. โThose scissors over there, the ones that are completely metal without the plastic handles, donโt even think about cutting anything but fabric with them!โ
random question, but was the picutre of you and your mom taken at The Nut Tree in NorCal? Iโd recognize those rocking horses anywhereโฆ
Thanks so much, Joy!
It does sound like things I said (or implied). I plead guilty. Iโm glad you can appreciate and sift through what works for you now.
We try so hard as parents-hoping to impart ourโ sifted through gemsโ our parents used with us. It is on-the-job training all the way.
Joy, you will always be a huge blessing from God to Dad and me. We are so proud of you and all you have accomplished! Continue to be what the record sang
Love,
Mom
PS. It warms my heart to know there were many other moms out there like me.
oh yes. I was always the kid who got picked up at the sleepover to go to church.
why couldnโt my friends have sleepovers on friday??
so many lessons from our momsโฆmy mother was a seamstress, so me using her scissors for anything else was not an optionโฆbut I sure tried! I miss her dearly, gone 4 years now. What I most love about her to this day is a comment she made to a friend. I didnโt quite catch it when she said it, but friend repeated it in awe afterwards. (Iโm adopted) โ when I was introducing her to my friend I explained slightly the circumstances of her being my mom, and her response was โBut she was always my babyโ Now I just refer to her as my Mom, and when asked about the very obvious non-relation (Iโm dark skinned and she so wasnโt!) I explain โ but only if asked. Her words of kindness towards the end stay with me till now: โAlways be kind, you never know what the other person is going throughโ, โYoung lady, behave yourselfโ and โdo what makes you happy; donโt let anyone tell you what you can or canโt do.โ My life was molded by her, and her strengths and fears, which we lived day to day with an abusive husband/father, they stay with me as I go about my life without herโฆ*sniff sniff* โ thanks for your awesome words Joy, and what an amazing Mama you have! xo
I used to thinkโฆ โsigh!mothersโฆโ, but now I find myself saying pretty much the same things to my little girl!
OMG Joy, I think we were raised by the same mom! from the calligraphy pens, to โshut upโ being a curse word, to church after a sleepover- I lived the same childhood!! Now that Iโm a mom, I say soooooo many of the same things my mom said- the apple (or orange, or banana) thing is forever on my lips!
Hahahah My mom has always had issues with โherโ scissors finding legs and walking off. I donโt know how many times she has fussed at us because she opens the drawer to get them and they are gone. Enough that she has gone to walmart and bought no less than 10 and put our names on a pair and DARED us to touch the remaining 7 :-D
Love your post. When I was younger I was always whining โ Thatโs not fairโ and my mom was always anwering โ La vie n โest faites que dโinjustices ma chรฉrie, tu ferais mieux de tโy faire maintenantโ which in english would be something like โ Honey, Life is Unfair, you better get used to it now it will save you a lot of disappointments laterโ.
So I read this days ago when it first came out and it warmed my heart and reminded me of the kind of mom I wanted to be for my kids. Itโs not all about being their friend, huh?? I needed that!
BUTโฆ and I feel kind of bad even asking this, but itโs been nagging me for daysโฆ
โDonโt you dare come in this house pregnant if you donโt mean to be pregnant. I donโt care if youโre 31.โ
Didnโt you just turn 31? Is this a veiled announcement???
thatโs kind of what I was thinking too! rut-rohโฆ ;)
Iโm fairly certain our mothers went to the same School of Child-Rearing! So funny, because it hey are so true. Moms do know best! But seriously, the same!
I TOTALLY thought Tums were candy when I was little. I would beg for them! What is it about those chalky pastel circles that makes kids nuts?
OMG, you are at the nut tree in CA!
Just brought tears to my eyes. Our mothers sound a lot alike! Love love love your blog, your posts always brighten my day!
Joy.
All of these things are exactly what my mother said to me.
Do we have the same mom?
ria.
[;
My mom was the same with several of those! I almost forgot about the sleepover thing, with going to church. Youโre right, that totally preps you for doing all the stuff you donโt want to as an adult!
A woman whose love for baking and witty humor is making her a household name! I LOVE JOY WILSON
Thank you so much for sharing!!! I really needed to hear some of those life lessons today. I shoulld probably book mark this page so that I can get a refresher course of them once in a while.
My mom says the same thing about her scissors.
Stop stealing her fabric scissors for cardstock!
But itโs sharper than my own, Mom!
Wonderful memories. Was the picture taken at the Nut Tree restaurant in Vacaville,CA? I remember riding horses like those at the Nut Tree!
Oh mamas! What a blessing they are. This post (oddly?) gave me chills. Loved every word.
I LOVE this. Obvi, lots of people relate bc so many comments! The advice reminds me a lot of things my mom said (and still says), almost every single piece. Moms are the best! Thanks for sharing; totally made my day and made me miss my Mom.
Your mama rocks! I wish I had half that much backbone.
Oh this is brilliant. My mom said most of those things too, and the scary part is, I catch myself spouting them too, all. the. time. Especially the apple one.
The scissors! Yes! And โshut-upโ being a bad word โ that and โstupidโ were banned in our house growing up. I still canโt bring myself to use either one of those casually.
LOVE!! Mamaโs are so smart, arenโt they??
I was going to list all of the things I agreed with on that wonderful list. I then thought, no, Iโll just tell you that you have a great mom.
I think โshut upโ is a bad word too!
Wow, my mom definitely wasnโt a life lessoner at all. She was more of a kitten heels eyeliner type of mom. Thank you for sharing. I like the โyou must not be hungry,โ โIts ok that itโs not fairโ and the donate everything lessons most. Xo
Lol! These are great lessons โ and some of them made me laugh out loud. :-) Thanks so much for sharing.
This is great! is this a pic of your mom or should I know this already?
Moms are amazing people โ teaching us lessons that we donโt want to hear at 12 but when we are 46 โ so glad we learned them! This post came at a good time โ my momโs birthday is on the 18th โ and I miss her terribly every day (she died just over a year ago). It is good to remember your mom when she is here so you can hug her and thank her in person.
Gems. ALL of them. I especially like the one about the Tums haha.
Sounds like an apple a day keeps the mom at bay. :-) All good advice here!
Your Mama is quite a brilliant lady!!! :-)
I have 3 boys (ages 11 & 7-twins) and have several pairs of decoy scissors available for everyone to useโฆand I hide MY scissors & if anyone (including the husband) uses them theyโre busted! :)
Joy, that was so wonderful! So many good lessons from your Mama.
The scissors! Always with the scissors! My mom was crazy about her scissors! The Tums that I ate like candy were always my dadโs, though. Your mom sounds like my mom and I love her. This was a beautiful tribute to a wise and wonderful woman. She sure did a good job with you, Joy the Baker. xo
my mom used to pick me up early sunday to go to church too!! I knew it was the price to pay, glad to say iโm a disciplined adult (i think)
be braver than you think you can be โ perfect! Joy you are such a great writer โ whether you are talking about food, expressing your thoughts or telling a story, you are my absolute favorite!! I love everything you do!
Awww โ I like this so muchโฆ
My gosh, that is a drop dead gorgeous picture. Iโm surprised you werenโt snapped up for modeling. I bet people stopped your parents all the time telling them what a pretty daughter they had.
Of course everyone knows this, now, but your mom is amazing.
However, what everyone does not know is that the apple sentence has been looping in my brain.
So, I ate a pear.
Instead of a(nother) gooey coconut dream bar.
Because of YOUR mom. =)
AND that discipline thing explains why you were at the laundry at 7 a.m. (this never stops amazing me) to misplace a tiny pair of panties and make a homeless manโs day. I love that story, and that image, but I canโt get past: โDoing laundry? At 7 a.m.?โ I find your discipline and productivity inspiring and HELPFUL. =) So, some thanks need to be said to YOU. Thanks. =)
i love the pregnant ones! too funny.
This post absolutely melted my heart. I love your mama. I hope I can be a mama like that.
Also love your cute little baby cheeks (from your baby picture โ Iโm not being condescending). ;-)
It is nice to know that my house was not the only one where โshut- upโ was not allowed :) I felt like a freak growing up since I wasnโt allowed to say that haha but in the long run I think it has helped me to be more polite in conversation with other :)
Itโs funny how many of those sayings are common to momโs of all generations! Iโve heard many of those, and said many of those. My mom sewed so the scissors one I got from her, and I do calligraphy, so I said that to my kids. Haha! Great picture of you and your mom! You look just like you look now, and I mean that in a good way! Beautiful!!
Yes: the fabric scissors. The calligraphy pens! I heard these things as well. (Why donโt we do calligraphy like our moms?) Love this post, Joy. ; )
Your mother is very wise. Hey, being a mom is more difficult than you might think. :D
Karen
Your mom is awesome! Iโm totally stealing some of these for when I have kids.
I can relate to the scissorsโฆ.
I am laughing as we have similar momโsโฆand boy are we lucky and better for it. I am a crafter and have seperate scissors for my fabric and ribbon and have a fit if someone (read hubby or others) cut other stuff with themโฆespecially tape..oh my.. i always got the you arenโt hungry if you arenโt eating what is in front of you.. Fun way to start my my Monday!
The scissors point is too true for my mom! She is a teacher so scissors are a sacred thing at the workplace for her, donโt you steal those!
Love these kind of posts. Love life lessons. Love life lessons from mommas. Amen.
Yo mama raised you right, love it! Boy you must have been so upset leaving that sleepover early.
If I only allowed myself to eat apples when I was snacky or otherwise interested in (unhealthy almost always always) food, then I would be so skinny.
love this one in particular: Youโre hungry? Eat an apple. You donโt want an apple? You must not be hungry.
awesome mom you have! :)
Pricelessโฆ
Your mom is beautiful. :)
I like your mom.
I always say, โGood kids come from good parents.โ You are a good kid, and this post explains why.
You are also going to be a good parent yourself when the time comes.
Oh my goodness, the scissors! Hilarious ! I soooo relate. My mom had โherโ scissors too, and they were Fiscarโs, presumably sewing scissors, but my mom didnโt sew! She kept them in the kitchen and they got the most use cutting off price tags from clothing, and in later years, cutting very straight edges of wrapping paper. Basically they were to be used: 1) however she deemed appropriate at any given moment, and 2) not by me.
And to bring it full circle, I maaaay have written โMommyโs scissorsโ once in my life, after becoming so frustrated at not finding a brand new pair and only pair, mere hours after purchase, as my daughter absconded them, to join the ranks of her dozen-or-so kid-sized and fancy-edged scissors that were kept not far from mine, by her art supplies. When i asked her about โmy scissorsโ, she shared her offense of my emblazoned-by-Sharpie proclamation of ownership and told me, at age 6, that it was โrude, and not niceโ.
My daughter left me searching for words to explain my behavior, but now, 6 years later it all makes me laugh so hard because I now knew how each of them felt, and I was grateful to have had the chance to experience both sides of scissor need and ownership.
Thanks for sharing, Joy. I hope you are as proud of yourself as your mom undoubtedly is.
The one about Tums made me laugh! Normally when I tell people about how my siblings and I used to consider Tums candy I get a funny look. Although my mom used to give them to me in lieu of medicine when I would complain about some vague pain or somethingโฆwhich led to me making stuff up of course :)
Mom knowledge is the best knowledge. Great post, Joy!
You just sealed the deal with making my 15 & 16 year old do their own laundry. I always felt guilty and unsure but youโre mom has convinced me.
those kinds should have long been doing their own laundry according to my mama!
This is too wonderful and funny. The scissor thing? My momma is a seamstressโฆso I totally get it. And the pregnancy bit? Yep. My mother managed to scare me away from doing it for quite some time with that one.
LOVE this post!! And Shutup was a curse word in my house too!
Wow, my mom and yourโs have many similarities โ especially the scissors. Great memories.
Joy you are so fabulous and this post was awesome! I just saw that new movie, Argo, and there is an actress in it (Clea DuVall) that looked so much like you! She looked like you in the movie, not so much outside of it. Check it out!
Itโs like your mom KNEW I was sitting here reading blogs instead of cleaning the shower and hand-washing my bras. Fine. discipline.
I lost my Mum this year. She was really really special, like yours. Iโm so glad you appreciate your Mum. She sounds golden.
โ I donโt put up with nonsense and I didnโt teach you to put up with nonsense either.โ
Right on, Joyโs Mama!
Joy,
Thank you so much for your blog post today about your mom. I read it out loud to my family. My husband and I remember our parents saying the same things your mom said. We are now passing on words of wisdom to our two girls. Thanks!
Linda
Ps: love your blog, and book.
i appreciate you!
Every lesson warmed my heart. I love hearing about a daughter appreciating her mother. It certainly takes a while but once you do that bond is priceless!
I am the mother of a 16 year old boy, we (yes both of us) are taught life lessons every day. I have come to love the sigh that follows me saying โk, Bub, listen to me โcause this is a life lesson you need to learn.โ (His nick name is Bubby; I am not trying to sound tough).
After many life lessons spoken and the uncertainty of knowing if they were sinking in my son has taught me that kids do learn, they listen and they watch. He has started teaching a class of 12 year olds and I very proudly overheard one dayโฆ โListen Scott, I do not care who started it, I am ending it nowโฆโ I have also been witness to a life lesson be restated by him to my boyfriendโs daughter.
Joy, be sure to let your Mom know you listened and learn, it makes our momma hearts swell (in a good way).
Thank you for allowing us to peep on your life.
Sheila
I loved this. especially the leave things cleaner than you found it part <3
Love! All of these. Basically just because they are all absolutely true and totally not tired or cliche. Thanks for the precious reminder.
Lovely words of wisdom. Seems they they worked well for ya. :)
Did your mom ever tell you to never cut your own bangs? Mine did. I didnโt start listening to her until after I tested that one out.
Great! Every mother needs to read this. I had a mother like that and I was a mother like that. We also ate all of our meals as a family (except for lunch when they reached school age) They learned that their father works hard to provide for us and they would not die of hunger!
Your momma sounds like a wonderful person. I think she and I would get along fabulously, as I can be very โnone of this nonsenseโ as well!
What a mom!!! I learned so many of those exact lessons from my mom. I had to laugh about the scissors, caligraphy pens, and just how hungry are youโฆLessons from real life and he I thought it was just us!
Moms are pretty awesome. Glad you got a good one!
Love!!
I guess my mom was a ball-buster too, because most of these sound hauntingly familiarโฆthanks for the laugh! And the trip down memory lane.
I love the photograph of you and your mother at the Nut Tree in Vacaville. I remember being terrified of falling off those rocking horses as a little girl, so having a mom โhelpโ is a great image.
waitโฆ is this picture at The Nut Tree? we couldnโt figure it out!
how can we have the same mom and you be my child at the same time?
LOVE IT! Sounds so similar to my Mom. Itโs such a wonderful thing to get the point in life where these things are appreciated, isnโt it?
Motherโs are the best
Omgโฆ. my mother used to say almost verbatim the same thing about the apple and not being hungry. She still says it to this day! Too funny! That line about having an apple when youโre hungry must be in The Motherโs Handbook or somethingโฆ Just sayinโ
Love this! My mom still carries a little bag of cut up apples wherever she goes! I only hope to do as well as your mom at teaching my daughter to respect herself and those around her!
I know your mom. I am just like your mom. My mom was just like your mom. Guess itโs what moms do. And thank goodness!
(Though it was my dad who hammered in the lesson that life isnโt fair.)
Thanks for the love letter to your mom and to all moms.
:) Karen
I love the no nonsense Mama. And as an adult do you ever find yourself wondering why all people donโt know the same โlife rulesโ as you? I think to myself, why would you put your dish in the sink when the dishwashers empty? And than remember not everyone was under the dishwasher policesโ watchful eye growing up.
My sons, ages 30 and 25, still talk about the laundry basket, soap, and laundry lessons they received for their 12th birthdays. They laugh now though they werenโt so amused at the time. Iโm delighted I can tell them that they werenโt the only ones.
Beautiful, Joy. We have a good one. Bless that woman.
I love the apple one! So funny and yet so true!
xoxo Sarah
missdottidee.blogspot.com
This is too sweet for words! What a great mom you have
This one left me crying. It did.
Oh, the scissors lesson. That rings true.
Your mom could write a book! Completely relate to the scissors bit. Is that the Nut Tree in your photo?
Love this. You are definitely the product of some great parenting. Being a mom of boys, I try my best to adhere to as many Mama pearls of wisdom as I can( my current favorite being-Donโt break your Mamaโs heart). I hope they can appreciate it some day the way you have with your Mom. Itโs a big goal to achieve, but the juice is always worth the squeeze.
wise womanโฆ
Sigh, the scissor rule. I think every mom had that rule. I was laughing because my mom always says, โโฆ Well if you donโt want to eat this fruit/vegetable you must not be hungry.โ So wise.
I love this. My mom gave me the same pregnancy speech ha. Firm but loving mothers are amazing in so many ways.
Thank you for sharing this! My mama had the scissor rule, too. โ Just because my pinking shears make pretty designs does not mean you can use them to cut everything thatโs not fabric.โ
Iโm calling my mama now. Thank you from her, too.
Love this post!!!
awww i really enjoyed this post
Joy,
I didnโt see this post until today, but you posted it on what would have been my momโs birthday (she died when I was a teenager). She was on my mind a lot yesterday, of course. One thing I remember her saying to me was, whenever I was pouting about something, โA little birdโs going to come perch on your lower lip.โ Even now, remembering her saying that can help pull me out of a funk. Thanks for the reminder about momsโ lessons!
Jennifer
lovely Joy. Thanks for sharing & having incredible parents!
Joyce W dropped a few: โWhat would you do if you were stranded on an island and I wasnโt here? Be resourceful.โ
solid, Joyce. SOLID!
My goodness! I can literally remember hearing my mom tell me those same thing.
Your mother and I must have gone to the same school of mothering, because I have said each and everyone of those things to my kids. Except, my comment on getting pregnant was โyou caught it! You keep it! I quit baby sitting when I was 17.โ Itโs worked so far.
Love this!! You have a great mom :)
Last night, my five-year old daughter claimed to still be hungry after dinner (I think she wanted a blondie) and I just busted out an apple and my husband said, โAre you hungry?โ I answered for her and cut the apple, which she somberly ate, she perked up after a few bites.
I have a lot of fabric scissors but it is my husband I have to patrol.
I donโt put up with nonsense. No, stop it.
This is such a sweet post, and I never thought anyone else got in trouble for stealing momโs scissors! Growing up I heard โWHERE ARE MY SCISSORSโ followed by the list of everything theyโre NOT for more times than I could count!
beautifulโ
Oh I love the picture of your mama and you. โBe the best of you that you can be.โ Hell yes.
Aww, lovely list. I am sure my mom feels totally vindicated on the scissors advice. Yeah, many a scissors Iโve ruined that canโt cut fabric anymore (or is it the other way round?).
what a GREAT post from a couple of GREAT moms! if EVERYone taught their kids these principles, the world would be a much better place and there would be a lot more kindness everywhere. just sayin.
And your mom totally rocks!
Love this!! The words โbecause I said soโ hount me to this day ;) I donโt know how often I heard thatโฆ.and I keep repeating it to my nephews constantly. Sometimes thatโs just all you can say;)
โ be braver than you think you can be โ
the most awesome advice.
love your tribute! mama knows best! when i was a kid, i thought to myself โ i donโt want to be like mom; iโm going to do things differently.โ of course, now that i have my own kids, i realize that mom did know best. And ya know what, iโve turned into my mother! i catch myself saying the things that she used to say. i love your blog!!!
eat an apple!!!!!!!! i do this one to my kids all the time! i may have become my motherโฆ and thatโs not a bad gig.
my momma also used to pick me up from sleepovers for church. lesson learned. lesson appreciated. thanks for the reminders, joy!
this happened to you to!? thank goodness. i know iโm going to sound just like my mother when i have kids.
great post, i love it,
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WowโIโm only in my 30s (with 4 kids) and your mom and I say the same things. I like to think that I just have some old fashioned ways about me or that your mom was ahead of her time. ha ha
*especially the laundryโno reason you canโt do it at 12 if you can reach the detergent and knobs, you are ready!
I think your mom and my mom have the same philosophy on life. But my mom adds in, โNo, you will NOT be carsick. We donโt get carsick.โ and she wears a sheriffโs badge pin that says โTrailbossโ. God bless our mothers!
my mom needs that Trailboss pin. for real.
I think your mom and my mom would be friends.
Loved these so much. And made me miss my mom. I hope my daughter reflects like this about me (sheโs 24). And give your mom a big hug.
Love it! Iโve totally heard some of those before.
Your mom rocks.
That is an amazing post Joy! Your mom is an amazing women and you are a wonderful daughter to apreciate her:)
I love your mom. :-)
the scissors rule: i learned early on that my children just wanted to use the scissors with the colored handlesโฆ..and so i learned to buy ugly sewing scissors for myself and leave the purple or red handled scissors for themโฆand the paper uses! and, voila, they stopped taking my scissors! much much easier than the frustration that existed otherwise!
Great post. I have caught myself saying these to my kids. Especially the if you donโt want fruit, you must not be hungry.
Oh Joy, I loved this. Thanks for sharing. Makes me feel good about the mama-ing Iโm doing right now. All the good nuggets are buried in there somewhere and hopefully my kids can manage to make a list like this someday!
Shed a few tears by the end of this, Joy! Some of these ring more true than ever, right now, as the parent of teens. Great kids, mind you. But hard to be the โthis is real life, lifeโs not fair, get used to itโ parent sometimes, when your kid is so stressed over the high-acheiver endless list in her mind (and in reality!). And when your good student in college finds out his GPA is not quite good enough for that internship.
And when the scissors were missing when I grew up, everyone knew to come get them from ME! LOL
The scissors were an issue also for my mom here in Chile!
Loved the post!
More Momโs should teach these rules. The scissors rule applied in our home too. Sound advice even in todays world!
Great. Love these so very much. My mom had a version of eat an appleโฆ For her it was youโre bored? Read a book. Donโt want to read a book? Then youโre not that bored.
That by itself is a book of lifeโs lessons that is by all standards award winning. Your motherโs short version of wisdom is brilliant, and her daughter reflects the model. You have been very blessed..
love your words joy.
moms are precious gemstones to have & to hold to your heart forever.
xo n
Cute! If I was feeling depressed my mom would say stop feeling sorry for yourself and go do something for someone else.
It works.
Dear Joyโs momโฆI totally understand the scissor thing! I have a lable on my fabric scissors that screams FABRIC ONLY.
Your mom sounds much harsher than mine! But these are all good life lessons that she stood for :)
i didnโt mean to make her sound harsh. sheโs just real.
My mother had the scissor rule also โฆ. and now I have it! Cute post, made me smile and think of my Mom.
Yeah, same scissors problem in Germanyโฆ :D
My mom gets weird about her scissors too!
I heart your mom!!
Trying to be softer than that at the moment due to circumstances that we have found ourselves inโฆ.but I really want to be like your mum and give it some welly!
Your Mama sounds a lot like my Maman. And even when Iโm in a different continent, she still manages to teach me a few lessons.
My mom totally said the eat an apple if you are hungry one! :). Great post!
some sound advice from mum :-)
As a new mum myselfโฆ god bless good. loving, though mums in all places. Itโs hard sometimes.. but you ended up with a lot of better kids! (and Joy, even better!) Martina
Are you sure are parents are not relatd. OMG that is my mom. But dad always taught me the most important life lesson, he would tell me that when in a situation that I have to decide at that moment just what to do, think of worst senario in the out come. Think hard he would say because there is no turning back. What would be the worst think that can happen with the decision you have made. Well sometimes it was a blessing, other times I screwed up and didnโt listen.
But mom was always there with guidane saying, why the hell didnโt you listen to your father. LOL Paulette
I AM that scissors Mum. I learnt it from MY Mum!
โYouโre hungry? Eat an apple. You donโt want an apple? You must not be hungry.โ
Loooove this! Iโm gonna make a poster, frame it and hang it in my kitchen.
Love the post made me miss my ma.
The hem your pants thing. I can completely relate.
The last one is lovely.
awww haha, awesome mama!
xo, cheyenne
this made me smile so much. :) Need to remember a couple of these!
I thought my house was the only one with the super strict scissor rules!
Happy 12th Birthdayโฆ.lol
Because I said so rofl
cute post.
This posting makes me miss my mom (in a good way!). I got similar lessons from her. Lovely posting!