Parenting

Things their mother said…

“Please can I leave the table?”
“Well you can’t take it with you”

I was about eleven when I finally got what this meant!

More and more recently I’ve caught myself sounding like my mum. 
Now don’t get me wrong, my mum is fantastic but I’m sure we can all think back to our childhood and remember things our grown ups said that made no sense at all and resulted in us rolling our tiny eyes or just thinking “what are you chatting about woman?

I always told myself I wouldn’t say those weird, nonsensical kinds of things.

Ever…..

“I don’t care if X’s parents let them do that, if X jumped off a bridge would you want to?”

Why would I even ask that? It’s not like Aoife is going to turn around and say “actually Mummy, I would.” Unless she meant she’d bungy jump. In which case I’d reply with a swift “Over my dead body”.


“I’ve spent ages slaving over a hot stove cooking this meal just for you”

What the actual heck?
For starters, who in the 21st century calls it a stove? 
It’s an oven. I’m pretty sure that all over the world it’s called an oven. I don’t think it’s been called a stove since the early 1900s.
Secondly, I’ve not ‘slaved’ by any stretch of the imagination. 
I cooked a while. 
It probably took maybe half an hour. I was not forced. I did it by choice. There was no slavery of any sorts involved in cooking the meal which, to be fair, I probably wouldn’t eat either as I have tried to cunningly hide about seven different vegetables in it.

“We look with our eyes, not with our hands!”

Obviously we look with our eyes. We FEEL with our hands. Could I be more patronising?
I also don’t know why I always say ‘we’. I have absolutely no problem with touching stuff that isn’t mine.

“If you don’t tidy those toys away I’ll just throw them all in the bin”

No I actually won’t, for two reasons. 
1) I spent money on those toys and I’m not just throwing them away. Worst case scenario for the children is I’ll send them to a refuge. The toys not the children.
2) I really can’t be bothered to gather the toys and put them anywhere. If I could be bothered I’d tidy them away myself. 

“I spent good money on that and you don’t even appreciate it”

This makes the least sense, what is ‘good’ money? 
How does it differ from ‘bad’ money?
I don’t have a secret stash of ‘bad’ money lying around to buy things that shouldn’t be appreciated. 
And of course my children don’t appreciate stuff, they are 2 & 5. 
They don’t know what it means to appreciate so they can’t appreciate. Besides, they’re at a time in life where shit just appears whenever they want it, and sometimes when they don’t.

“Why do I waste my breath?”

Well, mainly so that I feel like I have a bit of a grip on this rollercoaster ride called parenting and probably to also reassure myself of my own existence every now and then. There’s nothing like the sound of your own voice to remind you you’re alive in the midst of an existential crisis.


“Why would you do that?” 

Generally used when something has been drawn on or broken, the answer is obvious. Curiosity!
‘Would red look good on this wall?’
‘What does this do?’
‘How does this work?’
THAT’S why they would do that.

“I am so disappointed”

I don’t have the energy to let you know how very fucking cross I am when I know that you really couldn’t care less and will likely go do that VERY same thing again in a minute.

“Why do I bother?”

Well. 
And this one is the most obvious.
It’s because I love you so much and would move heaven and earth for you. 
That’s why I bother. 

Mummuddlingthrough

23 Comments

  • Paulita

    Ha! You're right that as mothers we say things that our parents said. I think that “I'm so disappointed in you” might come in handy as yours grow to teenage years. I tried using one that Tina Fey wrote, which is something about, “Before you swallow drugs or alcohol, remember that I peeled grapes for you so you wouldn't choke.”
    We still call it a stove here in the U.S. The top part with the burners is the stove and the part that opens to bake is the oven. Is it different there?

  • Anna Brown

    We tend to call the burners the 'hob', the bit that bakes the 'oven' and the two bits as a whole we call a 'cooker'. Who would have thought it could be so complex!

  • justsayingmum

    arghh I’m guilty!! These sayings come round and round don’t they! OK I admit I don’t say them all but I’m certainly guilty of a few! I try really hard not to use the disappointment word but the ‘why would you do that’ has been said a few times with a few extra words thrown in!! #CoolMumClub

    • itsmeanniebee

      Disappointment is one I wish I didn’t use but sometimes it seems better that a massive sweary rant that would be wasted on a 2 & 6 year old but repeated without a doubt at school!
      Thanks for taking the time to read.

  • An Imperfect Mum (@animperfectmum)

    LOL I think my mum used all of these and I’ve definitely used a few too but having an autistic child I have to take care with my language as he takes things literally. Like the time I told him to give himself a shake ? Thank you for linking up to #ablogginggoodtime ?

  • kerry

    Great post!! My hubby always tells me to stop threatening things like “stop been naughty otherwise we wont be going on holiday” because like he said, we WILL be going on holiday!! My dad always used to tell my hubby “if you want to know what she’s going to be like later in life, look at her mum!”

    #Blogstravaganza

    • itsmeanniebee

      Last year we were suffering ‘not good’ behaviour from my daughter, we told her if she wasn’t good she wouldn’t have a birthday party. We had to cancel her party to keep our word. We were mortified, she didn’t care!
      Thanks for reading

  • anklebitersadventures

    I love this !! My mum used to use all those phrases and I now use some of them and I’m like ahhh mum !! Fab post #blogstravaganza xx

  • Tee ?

    Haha! I recognise quite a few of these from my win Mum. I often quote my Mam’s, “Who’s ‘she’ the cats mother?” to my class. I don’t even know what it means! #blogstravaganza

    • itsmeanniebee

      I have had an entire day of asking why, why, WHY??? They’ve paid no attention to me but I’m sick of the sound of my own voice! Thanks for reading but why would you do that? WHY? Hahaha

  • Kirsty

    Love this! I find myself sounding more and more like my Mum every day and it still takes me by surprise!… Even more so when I see her in the mirror too! Great post x

  • thetaleofmummyhood

    I say every single one of these! It just comes out before you realise you’ve turned into your Mother, haha! I always tell my Husband if he doesn’t clear his things away they’ll end up in the bin too, oops! Thanks so much for linking up to #Blogstravaganza xx

Thanks for reading, I'd love to know what you think.

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