8 Things Mothers like to Say ...

This is what is known as a rhetorical question. Your mother is not actually remotely interested in why you have chosen to do whatever it is, what she really means is that she wouldn’t want to do it so there can be no valid reason why you would want to.

Oh, don’t mothers like to come out with this one. Even if you are incredibly successful in your field, if it’s not a conventional job then it’s not a proper job, so it doesn’t count.

To mothers, your previous boyfriend was always nicer than your current one. It’s rather like the law of diminishing returns; your taste just gets worse and worse, if mother is to be believed. Of course, she never liked your other boyfriends at the time.

Mothers know how to do everything. They are self-appointed experts on every subject from child-rearing to brain surgery. Your way of doing any given thing will always be wrong, and your mother will waste no time in taking over, whether her advice is wanted or not (it invariably isn’t), and insist on demonstrating just how it should be done.

Never, never have a drastic haircut just before going to see your mother. Mothers are congenitally incapable of making a flattering comment about your hair, especially if they are of the age where they think that everyone over 35 should have a tight perm. Colour changes will cause particularly barbed comments.

Mothers remain convinced that in ‘their day’ everything was just as it should be. Their favourite hobby is reminding everyone of this belief. It’s like a mantra that they repeat over and over again. What they are really doing is expressing their disapproval of change, because they don’t appreciate any novelty.

Unsurprisingly, our mothers think that because they brought us up, that makes them the undisputed experts on all matters involving children. They do not hesitate to point out that children these days are far too indulged, and that they made you eat everything on your plate (as if you could forget). If you don’t have children yet … be warned.

Mothers love dispensing this phrase of dark warning, along with its variant ‘You mark my words…’, if you dare to deviate in any way from following their advice. The implication is that you will live to regret it. If you do, never admit it, or you will continually be reminded of what happened when you didn’t listen to her.

They say that women eventually turn into their mothers. Some of us must be praying that it isn’t true! To our horror though, we often find ourselves repeating the same phrases – has that happened to you, maybe much earlier than you expected?

Top Photo Credit: seedeebee