And every time, my brother and I would both want that last portion of dessert.
My mother settled the problem in the only equitable way, and she didn't learn it from her mom. My mom was an only child, so she must have dreamed up the perfect solution on her own.
My mom would have one of us divide the piece of cake or the brownie in half; the other one would get to choose first. It alternated. When it was my turn, I would get a mental ruler in place, because I didn't want to give my brother an extra crumb. Neither one of us ever complained, because it was extremely fair.
What advice or lesson did you learn from your mom that stuck with you over the years?
(This is a picture of my birth mother, Imogene Gann, who taught me a completely different lesson than my mom, a lesson that changed my entire life. When the "Listen to Your Mother" videos come out on Youtube, you'll have to watch mine to find out how she changed my life.)
When I was in first grade, my mother said to choose my friends carefully. If they talked negatively about others to me, then they talked negatively about me to others. I think that tip has held true for my life.
ReplyDeleteClaudia--I've worked with colleagues who did the same thing. They talked trash about fellow teachers to me, which made me wonder what they were saying to them about ME...
DeleteMy brother used a real ruler.
ReplyDeleteMy mother taught me many more things that I should not do rather than what to do. Her only piece of (unheeded, yet useful) advice was "Tell him to keep it in his pants."
Kim--That is the same advice we gave our son. Of course, it also was unheeded...
DeleteLord above. That I am innately, disappointingly, irremediably flawed.
ReplyDeleteShay--Then it was your mother's loss (and her blindness/screwed-up morals)...
DeleteOne of the things my mother taught me that I'm most grateful for was the importance of making my own judgements. It's clear you got just the right amount of sass and adorable-ness from your birth mother, Sioux!
ReplyDeleteTammy--I don't know about the "adorable" part, but I definitely got my "sass" from here.
DeleteYour mother taught you well. That's an invaluable lesson to learn.
Well, I WAS wearing clean underwear that day I rolled my car and got hauled off in an ambulance.
ReplyDeleteVal--That made me think of how many times I have heard that same thing over the years. That's good you listened to your mother on that day.
DeleteI learned that my brothers cheated when it came to sharing. My mother didn't teach me that, but I learned it anyway!
ReplyDeleteMary--I'm sure that lesson your brothers "taught" you has served you well all these years...
DeleteYou bear a resemblance to your birth mother. Your LTYM story was incredibly touching. My mom taught me never to hold a grudge. It was hard for me to be angry when I had every right. I don't have that issue anymore :)
ReplyDeleteLinda--Yes, of the three girls, I look the most like her.
DeleteThanks for the compliment.
I was never taught to not hold a grudge--I guess because my parents were not the type to hold one. For different phases of my life, I've been the Queen of Grudges. Now, I'm trying to let things go...
My mother taught me about graciousness -- a lesson I seem to need to keep front of mind almost daily!
ReplyDeletePearl
Pearl--Graciousness. That's a wonderful trait to have.
DeleteOh, geez. I learned so much from my mom! The one thing that stuck with me more than anything else is, "You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar." She was right! The other thing was, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything." At her funeral, one of her church friends came up to me and said, "You're mother was such a wonderful lady. In all the time I knew her I never once heard her say a negative word about another person." As remembrances go, that's one I'd like to emulate.
ReplyDeleteLisa--That's a lovely memory to hold onto. It's rare to be able to say that about a person, so your mother must have been a helluva woman. (And that doesn't surprise me, considering who her daughter is. ;)
DeleteYou look like your momma. Your LTYM performance was outstanding. Gosh, I can't remember anything specific from my momma... guess something stuck because I don't think I'm all bad :-)
ReplyDeleteLynn--Yeah, that smirky smile passed right down to me.
DeleteThanks.
And not "all bad"? That's the understatement of the year.