Word to the Wise

When I was a kid, there were several things that my parents said that I swore I would never say to my kids.

But I do.

I can't help myself.

Some things are just too good to not be passed along to the next generation.

Like these oldies but goodies:

"Because I said so."

"Don't say another word."

"It's best for you to tell me yourself right away than for me to find out later from someone else."

"This hurts me more than it hurts you."

"Quit crying or I'll give you something to cry about."

"Pick up all this piddlin' stuff."

"If you can stay up late on Saturday night, you can get up early for church Sunday morning."

"Any dummy can sit in class and keep their mouth shut."

"I don't care what everyone else is doing.  I care about what you're doing."

"One day you can be the mom and boss your kids around."

"As long as you're in my house, you go by my rules."

These parent-isms seemed so unfair at the time.

And so many of them just didn't make sense to me at all.

I mean, "Quit crying or I'll give you something to cry about."

Huh?

I thought the whole point was to cry so we could all just move on about our business.

But no.

It had to be crying for a good reason.  A parent approved reason.

Now that I'm the mom and I get to boss my kids around, I can't help but smile when I use one of these pearls of wisdom from my parents.

Because I get it now.

Score one for ol' mom and dad.