Things I Learned From my Mama

I don't have funny kid stories to share, but once in a while I do have funny parent stories to share.  We all learn a lot from our mamas who teach us some of life's most important lessons.  Here are just a few my mom taught to me.

• "You have to suffer to be beautiful".  My mom's version of "maybe she's born with it; maybe its Maybelline"  was one of the most common phrases uttered in my childhood.  Usually this could be heard over my whining when getting my hair permed by a do it yourself perm in the kitchen.  Also spoken when getting my hair combed or braided.  Unfortunately some of us  have to suffer more than others; I have suffered plenty and am still not beautiful.
• "Never tell a lie.  Unless you have to".  Another common mama phrase.  This lesson was first learned after I bought a toy "water wiggler" from a corner store.  Once I got that slippery gadget home, I accidentally got a hole in it causing it to leak water all over the place deeming it unfun.  Mom suggested I return it and prompted me to say it had a leak when I bought it.  She followed that up with the wise life lesson, and lo and behold, it worked.  I got myself a new water wiggler.



Water wigglers, though I think when I was young, they were called "snakes".

• "Your eyes look funny".  This was the single most commonly spoken sentence of my brother's adolescence.  Mom was, and still is,  the ultimate pot detective.  She knew immediately upon looking at my brother that he had been toking up.  Maybe that is why I never tried the stuff.  However, Mom was also a pro at noticing when I didn't feel well or had the flu.
• "Think outside the box".  OK, she never really said that, but she sure has demonstrated it over and over again.  Just a few years ago, she substituted her broken denture teeth with the white rocks from the fish aquarium.  They worked like a charm, her dentist was impressed, and they are so durable she still has them as a reserve pair in case her new dentures break. 
• Cookies make everything better.  Her cookie jar is never empty of homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Once in a while, peanut butter cookies or Oatmeal raisin cookies make an appearance, but my favorite is her chocolate chip ones fresh from the oven.  And they do make everything better!  She puts the Keebler Elves to shame.

Those are a few of my favorite lessons handed down to me from my mother.  Though I don't have children of my own, I hear myself telling the kids I work with about "suffering to be beautiful" when I am helping them untangle their knotted hair.  It feels good to pass on some of my  mama's wisdom, and now I shared some of it with you!