Parents Say the Darnest Things
Parents Say the Darnest Things
A fun post! I’d like to share with you three things my parents have said my entire life. Cute phrases I’ll share with my kids and the morals I took away from it.
“Don’t ask a question you don’t want the answer to.” - Mom
I laugh because sometimes the humor is when people are serious. My mom is famous for her blunt truth-bearer ways. I always hold her New York roots responsible. Straight, no non-sense communication but funny as all get out.
For my fellow astrologists, I second this trait to her chart as a Capricorn sun and Taurus moon. For my non-astrologists, Earth placements equate to being hilarious and painstakingly literal. For my mom, it didn’t happen unless she experienced it with her 5 human senses.
I remember as a kid, maybe a pre-teen, walking with her in a mall. A sales lady selling lotion at her cart in the midst of pedestrians put a sample on my mom’s hand and asked her something along the lines of “what do you think”? My mom looked at me and then look at her, silently communicating the “I call BS” on her sales pitch. I look at the lady and say “Don’t ask a question you don’t want the answer to”. We laughed.
Speaking of laughter, my mom has a famous laugh, one all of my elementary school friends still remember. It’s loud and robust and her face is wide and mouth open. It pours out of her. Recently, I realized it’s because she’s honest and so is her howl. I’ve never heard a fake laugh from my mom and I think people recognize it comes from a true place.
My mom inspires me in honesty. My Midwest demeanor certainly softens her yankee influence, but she’s showed me honesty is a choice and best practiced consistently.
“They can’t shoot ya for asking.” -Dad
No, not a country man or a hunter. No military background nor much gun experience. But… he’s a damn good salesman. And I attribute a great amount of his success to this mindset. Sales is not the only context I’ve heard this idiom. He applies it to everything.
Here are the themes I’ve noticed from my dad; persistence, self-esteem and taking action. He expects no’s and doesn’t let it discourage him. His high self-esteem has been built on facing rejection and knowing what to keep what to toss out.
I noticed my procrastination often started from not taking the first step, which often required inquiry from someone who knew where to take me. When my dad told me to make a call to someone to learn more, it revealed that I didn’t want what I thought I did. My lack of movement in asking a question or seeking information showed me how serious (or not so serious) I was in following through. It’s a useful metric my dad uses to observe other’s commitment.
Today he is a proud pup dad. One of his favorite things about his dog is he sits in front of you, facing away as his signal to pet him. My dad will say “Don’t you love that guy, he always asks for the sale. ‘C’mon. Rub my neck already’”.
“Oh My Gato” - Both
If anyone is wondering… yes this is the Spanish word for cat. When I was a kid we took a family trip to Mexico. At some point someone exclaimed “Oh My Gato!” The rest is David family history. I’ve heard it weekly ever since.
When I was writing this post I asked my mom to remind me of the story. Who said it? What was going on? Where were we? And like most family sayings, no one knows. She couldn’t remember the context or the person, but only the phrase and that it stuck.
This isn’t a saying that spans history, culture and generations, but it’s taught me about my parents. For starters, how cute they are. There’s a tone of voice that changes, and the pattern of speech slows down right before they say it. I can tell when it’s coming. My dad used to try and jinx my mom to play with her and so he could do something at the same time.
It’s a silly statement “Oh my cat”. It feels like a child story book and it elicits a light-heartedness from my parents. They love doing things together, matching clothes and even jinxing every now and again. Their careers structured their lives as many modern families, 40 hours a part. But they still love sharing, laughing and having fun.
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Author’s note: If you’re interested in learning more about how to apply these tips personally, feel free to email me to schedule health & wellness consulting
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