Advice from My Mom

In Punching Over a Piece of Cake by Sioux's Page, Sioux  asks

“What advice or lesson did you learn from your mom that stuck with you over the years?”

(By the way, can you tell I love Sioux’s blog? She really inspires a lot of my blog posts so if you haven’t had a chance, please check out her blog too!)

Let's see…her main saying was, “I brought you into this world and I can take you out!”

But I won’t talk about that.

The other lesson she was always teaching was, “Don’t spit in the air because it will come back down on you.”

That was her way of saying that I shouldn’t criticize others because I might someday be in the same situation. She believed that you never knew what someone else was going through unless you were in their shoes. I also believe that it was tempting fate and by judging someone out loud, it could cause me to have to go through the same thing and I prayed that would never happen.

As a teen, I remember rolling my eyes whenever I heard her say that. I mean, I was a teenager and I knew it all about everything! I’m sure I had an opinion about anything and everything and of course, I felt my opinion was the right one.

Now that I’m older, I look back and remember how I judged people and situations (but I was smart enough to keep my mouth closed, thanks to my mother!). Then I see how life has turned out and how my experiences in life have changed my opinion.

I hate to say it, but my mother was right.

I look at my students and want to tell them the same advice but I don’t think teens today are any more interested in this advice than I was.

But like my mother, I can’t keep my mouth shut. I have to share her wisdom and if someday it helps one student, then I’ve done a good thing.

What advice/lesson did you learn from your mother? Please share.

Image: 'Telling a story...'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95011179@N08/8882215923
Found on flickrcc.net