Show Sunflowers P By Janet Wallis A stitch in time saves nine Those good old sayings and theres there's one for every occasion sure come in han han- handy handy dy when it comes to mothering And we Mothers need all the can get How would we make it with without ut platitudes They are a Mothers Mother's best friend Dont Don't you agree A sage thought drought adds clout to any situation A sense of authenticity to a Mothers Mother's plea How would we survive Motherhood without Anything worth doing is worth doing well That's especially helpful when its it's time timeto timeto to teach the proper way to make a bed bedor bedor or set a table And is much more effective effective tive than Dont toss all the silver in a heap How many times have you used Change what you can change accept what you cannot change and have the wisdom to know the difference Now that's deep stuff It applies well to tending babies taking a bath or a broken date And how about You can do anything you want to do If you put forth the necessary effort A real classic at report card time And even more zy when coupled with That which you persist in doing becomes easier not that the nature of the thing has changed but that your ability to do has Increased Usually accredited to Pres Heber J Grant but used for eons by mothers with children who take piano lessons Old Ben you know the guy who discovered electricity sure did us Mothers a favor when he penned Poor Richards Richard's Almanac We shall ever be grateful for punch lines like II IIA A A stitch in time saves nine or A penny saved is isa isa a penny earned What would we do without them I And Proverbs may have burn been written by Solomon but it has been spouted for cen- cen centuries centuries by Mothers in an endeavor to keep their siblings in tow However Mothers Im I'm not converted There was a little boy Who wouldn't say his prayers And when he went to bed at night A way upstairs His mother heard him holler hollerAnd hollerAnd And his daddy heard him call But when they went to find him He wasn't there at all Is clearly a leftover from the Dark Ages And Annie nnie Roonie's The man manwill manwill will get you too if you dont don't watch out just doesn't say much for gentle persua- persua persuasion sion sian Anyway they're out of style Even some of Bens Ben's are hopefully ar- ar archaic archaic That one about Early arly to bed bed- hits me where it hurts But at least leat its it's something to blame ignorance lack of money and heart attacks on besides raising teenagers that is And then there are those not so stan stan- standard standard dard rules to live by which are uni- uni unique unique que to each family and sometimes only understood by the inner circle When my mother said Ive got bone my leg she meant Do it yourself Or when she said Let that baby do what she wants It equaled Too many Hoary basses create confusion And in my own family See you later alligator always answered by while Altos crocodile are terms of genuine family endearment Translated to mean Goodbye I love you and do do your best I love you too Which say a lot lotmore lotmore more than the modern Have Hav a good goodday dayt day if you ask me But mostly I rely on the oldies and goodies And when my children anticipate what's coming next and the ap- ap appropriate ap proverb before I do I feel fulfilled Those long hours of Mothering are paying off But Bul there are times I Im I'm m stopped short by Oh Mother not again again That's when I remind myself You can please some of the people some of the time and the rest of the people the rest of the time but you can never plea please e all It of all of the time |