MOMMY-isms - stuff you’ve said and didn’t mean…and others you did.

Monday, February 25, 2008, by Leigh Anne

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Last week I made a new blogging friend, Rhonda, over at Because Mom Said So. I love the name of her blog because it reminded me of all those MOMMY-isms I use, my mother used and if you are a mother - you probably use too!

You know what I mean - those statements you make to your kids when they are driving you crazy or you just don’t know what else to say.

If you were to ask my children what MOMMY-ism I am most famous for I have no doubts that all four of them would answer - “Life is not fair”. If any of my children dare to even whisper the words “That’s not fair!” (can you hear the whine) in my presence they know my answer before it’s even out of my mouth…

“Life is not fair!”

They have told me that they are going to engrave those words onto my tombstone!

I first heard those words - Life is not fair- not from my mother, but from my high school chemistry teacher Mr. Winston -back in the good old days, at Mary D. Bradford High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

My friend Hannah Kotz and I always sat in the front row of chemistry class. Often in answer to our response of “That’s not fair!”, although I have no idea what “wasn’t fair” about chemistry class, cute “old” Mr. Winston (he was probably in his mid-40’s!!) would say - ”When you were born - did a great big sign come down from heaven saying LIFE IS FAIR - no - LIFE IS NOT FAIR!”

It has been my favorite answer to the statement “It’s not fair” ever since!

Maybe some of these MOMMY-isms sound familiar to you…

Am I talking to a wall?

ANSWER ME!

Are you deaf?

Don’t make me come in there!

Go ask your dad.

Go play outside. It’s a beautiful day.

How many times do I have to tell you? I can’t believe you did that.

Why on earth would you do that?

I don’t care who started it…stop it now!

I just want the best for you.

If you’re too sick to go to school, you’re too sick to play outside.

I don’t know is not an answer

I’m not running a taxi service (one of my other favorites!)

Were you born in a barn?

Say you’re sorry and act like you mean it!

Some day you’ll thank me for this.

Someday when you have kids, you’ll understand

What part of no don’t you understand?

Do you have a favorite MOMMY-ism you say or maybe one your mother used. Let us hear it - just leave a comment in the box below!

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7 Responses to “MOMMY-isms - stuff you’ve said and didn’t mean…and others you did.”

Say it in your quiet voice!!! (very popular in our house right now, since we have an opinionated 2 1/2 year old)

And this is something my husband says, which always makes me CRACK up because he sounds just like his dad! Our daughter is very dramatic and often wails , “I’m SAAAAD” when she gets in trouble. His response?

“I’ll give you something to be sad about.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

First, “Life is not fair” is our family motto. Seriously. It’s documented in our family reunion album. Ask my kids. They will roll their eyes and recite it.

Here are a couple of my favorites just off the top of my head:

“This is not a restaurant.”

“He can’t chase you if you’re not running.”

“It takes two people to argue.”

Here is my NUMBER ONE favorite line that I can imitate with perfection as I channel my mother…

“BE NICE!”

It has been verified by me personally that three generations of moms in my family have used those two words…often…and screamed many times which adds to the effectiveness of the message.

Hi LeighAnne,
I use to tell my kids when they would say Life’s not fair. Fair is something you pay to ride a bus. LOL
Hugs,
Elizabeth

I try to use Love and Logic with my twin 3-year-old daughters and my 5-year-old son. Some of my Mommy-isms are:

I love you too much to argue.
Uh, oh. What a bummer. (then issue a consequence)
That’s a whiney voice. I only listen to big girl voices.
Uh, oh. Looks like a little bedroom time.

There are lots of others that aren’t so “Love and Logic” inspired (like “quit fighting!”), but you get the idea.

Valeri

Oh Leigh Anne, THANK YOU for the wonderful acknowledgment.

My father always would threaten “I’m gonna put you two on top of the roof of this car… if you don’t stop your bickering, and I MEAN it!” We traveled a lot as children and the funny thing about it all is that I honestly believed he would!

Like Sherra, I always tell my own children, time and time again, “be nice and mind your manners!” ???

My favorite is … because mom said so!

The one I say the most is “Be Nice!”

I also say “I am not a trash can!” a lot when we are in the car and one of the kids hands me an empty cup or used tissue… for some reason they haven’t learned to just set it down until they can reach the trash bag?

One of my favorites that my Grandpa actually taught me is when we would ask a question and he would say “No, thanks, I just got a haircut.” No matter what we had asked, that was always his answer. When we were kids it used to make us totally confused and frustrated! (We didn’t realize he was just being silly; we thought he just hadn’t understood what we were asking. Pretty funny.)

You may have already seen this, but comedienne Anita Renfroe combined mommy-isms with the William Tell Overture to create Mom’s Overture. Here’s a link to a video on YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=W95Y8hNQiH8&feature=related.

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