Lessons your mother taught you

There are a lot of things your parents said to you that didn’t end up being true.

“Don’t sit too close to the TV or your eyes will go square”, “If you make a face, and the wind changes you’ll get stuck that way”, or “If you swallow watermelon seeds they will grow inside you” are just a few ‘little fibs’ they might have told you.

What about the things your mother taught you that have stuck with you? It could come up once a week, once a year, or every day; but it has helped shape who you are. Starts at 60 took a trip down to the Men’s Shed and asked the fellas what lessons their mother taught them.

“Never be late,” Isaac shared. “Her rule was to be 15 minutes early for everything. She didn’t mind if she had to sit out front and wait for the party or whatever. She had to be early. She would tell us that it was the ultimate sign of disrespect if you are late. While I might not be 15 minutes early to everything, I am always at least 5 minutes. It’s a nice middle ground.”

John thought before he spoke, “She taught me to think before I speak. She hated ‘Ums’ and ‘Uhs’. If you were talking to my mother and you said ‘Ummm’ she would say ‘Um’s not a word.’ She didn’t care who you were either. She once said it to the headmaster of my school. I had to do everything in my power to not bust a gut laughing. She would say that if you ‘um-ed’ it was a sign that you weren’t thinking or caring about what you said. Pause, think about it and then speak. Safer than doing it in reverse order.”

“Don’t lend anything that you are not willing to lose,” Michael shared. “Always give money to friends and family, never lend. If you get the cash back that great if not then you did something good that helped someone out.”

What are some of the things your mother taught you that have stuck?