My Mother Always Used to Say...

by Anna Tochter

'My Mother Always used to Say ...' is a collction of those oh-so familiar saying handed down from one generation to another.
'If you lie you's get a pimple on your tongue
You'll understand when you have children of your own
Because I am your mother and I say so
You'll thank me for this one day'

If these sound wincingly familiar, read on ...

The wit and wisdom of one thousand years of motherhood is distilled into one delightful volume, which is sure to please mothers and children alike.

72 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1998

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is probably true that most of us can recall advice given by our mothers (and fathers, too) and also that such advice when we were young was, while not taken with a pinch of salt, thought to be of no use to us at all. I certainly remember advice that I thought, 'Yes, so what' when I was a young teenager who thought he knew everything (and didn't, I should add!). Isn't it ironic that in later life many of these sayings come back to haunt us and we often think 'My Mum (or Dad) was right.'

Reading some of the advice in this book makes one appreciate one's parents and recognise just how much wisdom they had (despite thoughts to the contrary at the time). And, how often do we find ourselves dispensing such advice to our own children? And, possibly with the same reaction as we displayed all those years ago.

One section 'Nice Girls Don't ...' has such advice as 'Wear jewellery that makes a noise', 'Eat in the street', 'Dye their hair' and 'Smoke in public', most of which is archaic these days. Similarly 'Table Manners ...' has 'Don't read at the table' - I must confess now that I live alone I am guilty of this misdemeanour, but I don't consider it as such now - 'Don't start until your mother is served' - well that was simple in our house because my Mum was never 'served', she was always doing the serving - 'Elbows off the table, hands in lap' and 'Don't speak with your mouth full'. Of the last two I do remember being told to take my elbows off the table but not necessarily to put them in my lap and very definitely remember being told not to speak with my mouth full.

'Because it's good for you' and 'Because I say so' were also phrases that I was aware of and that old favourite 'What did your last servant die of' was occasionally trotted out, mostly in jest I think. In the 'Hygiene' section I well remember 'Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it's been' - did it stop me? More often than not, it didn't.

'If I'd spoken to my mother/father like that' was another used in the Wolstenholme household as very definitely was, 'She, is the cat's mother' and 'Do you think money grows on trees?' to which the answer when young and cheeky was 'very probably', which was followed by a clip round the ear!

One that was never used in our household was that under the 'Maternal Panacea' heading, 'You'll feel better after a nice cup of tea'; my parents enjoyed their cups of tea but I disliked it and to this day have very rarely drunk it, so offering such counsel to me was a waste of time.

Two pearls of wisdom not featuring in the book are 'You can't put an old head on young shoulders' and 'Distance lends enchantment'. My Dad would often use the first after some incident that warranted it and I now know how true that statement is but then, 'forget it, Dad' - if only I knew then what I know now. As for the second I remember one classic instance of its use; I had attended a Pop concert at the Opera House where my Dad worked and when he came home I remarked how smart in suits of various bright colours Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers (mention of them dates me) looked. My Dad replied with 'The rear parts of all their trousers are wearing out and their shoes have holes in the soles' and he added, 'You should remember, distance lends enchantment.' I have never forgotten that and often recognise the truth of the statement when viewing something, or even someone.

This is a lovely, thought-provoking and sometimes nostalgic little book with rather attractive vignette adornments interspersed with the text and as it is about 'Mothers' we should perhaps remember what Anna Tochter says in her foreword, 'Mothers were our guide in all things and knew everything, they were our first inspiration, they loved us and wanted us to grow up a credit to them'. My Mum has moved on but I can still say 'I love you, Mum and thanks for everything. You taught me plenty.' And thanks Anne Tochter for reminding me of it.

[CatarinaG · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are all the product of our mothers and their mothers before them. A funny mixture of values and prejudice, old-wives' tales and good old commonsense leaves its mark on the adult.
Mothers were our guide in all things and knew everything, they were our first inspiration, they loved us and wanted us to grow up a credit to them. They set the rules and when reason failed they had the last, irrefutable word - 'because I am your mother and I say so'!

Uma pérola. A dedicatória "You'll understand when you have children of your own" diz tudo... Eu acho que ouvi estes ditados quase todos ao longo da minha infância! lol

And 'don't you give me that look, I invented it!' ;)

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short, one quote per page and not many pages. "Wash Your Mouth Out With Soap was a much more interesting book and was actually full of my mother's momisms.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely done for one of these little books of quotes. I only paid 20p for mine if I’d paid more maybe I’d expect more.

[Haniva Zahra]

aku baru sadar belum menambahkan buku ini di rak buku Goodreads, untung ada kak Neti yang berbaik hati memberi inspirasi :0

jadi, buku ini kubeli hampir 5-6 tahun yang lalu, kalau tidak sama semasa SMA (wah sudah lama sekali ya). bercerita tentang nasihat-nasihat pendek dari seorang ibu untuk anak perempuannya, yang seringkali kita sebagai anak tidak pernah habis pikir, kok bisa-bisa nya ibu memberi nasihat seperti itu. dan.. akhirnya kita kembali mengulangi nasihat-nasihat 'konyol' ibu kita itu ketika nanti kita memiliki seorang anak gadis. ya, banyak nasihat yang tidak akan kita mengerti maksudnya hingga nanti kita pun menjadi seorang ibu.

[Neti Triwinanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

"bawalah selalu jaket hangat"
"putus dengannya memang lebih baik".
dan berbagai kalimat kalimat yang biasa Mum ucapkan hadir di buku ini.
sederhana dan ringan. tetapi buku ini mengingatkan kita tentang betapa tak berhingganya kasih seorang ibu.
aku suka sekali halaman persembahan di buku ini:
teruntuk ibuku yang dulu selalu berkata.... "kamu baru akan mengerti saat kamu punya anak nanti."
Sekarang aku mengerti.

pas untuk dijadikan bacaan ringan disela sela hari yang teramat melelahkan :)