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[quote=5kingsinvegas;4255611]"No dessert if you don't finish your dinner. There are, after all, starving children in ________ (insert country, it was China when I was growing up)"
My father was just the opposite. He would always get us to try everything, but he'd say,"If you don't like it, spit it out. But just try it." He used to say it was polite to always leave a little something on your plate. My parents were much older than those of my friends, but they were so much more progressive.
My father had a rule... If you can't play together you CLEAN together... if he caught us fighting he would start with the dreaded GARAGE... we had to clean it from top to bottom... If we faught while we cleaned he would stick his head into the garage and say "When you are done with that come see me" and then we would have another job... until we stopped fighting...
My playroom now stays clean for the same reason... except when I told my father I was doing this he was annoyed with me that I would do that to his poor grandchildren! WHAT??!!??
The other thing I usually use when they say SHE TOLD ME TO DO IT is... "If your sister told you to play in traffic would you?"
There are many other things I do but I would be here all day typing...
All of these were said in my childhood home, but I took wicked joy out of using some of them with a twist -- the ones where my answer is teal!
"No dessert if you don't finish your dinner. There are, after all, starving children in ________ (insert country, it was China when I was growing up)" Nope.
"Don't make me stop this car!" Yes! We were on a trip in a long-ago July. We were all hot, they were cranky, and we had an extra person along -- a teenager, and she was getting tired of the fussing, too, so she fussed back. I warned them once, "Do I have to stop this car?" My children had never heard that before, but they figured out that I was irritated and settled down -- for five minutes. Then "I mean it! Do i have to stop this car?!?" They settled down again, but they started up again! They were so busy fussing that they didn't see the big billboard telling about the water park! I slammed on the brakes, pulled off into the gravel parking lot, went to the back door, and slid it open with a bang. "Everybody OUT!" I said loudly and "angrily." My poor little bears' eyes were so big! The teen was in shock! Then I said loudly, "To the water park!" They snapped back into reality and took off running! That was all they needed! We played a little while, then got back in the camper and they were just fine until we stopped for the night! Hee-hee!
"Wait 'til your father gets home!" But unlike Mother, Father was easier on me -- I knew it would be lite.
"Are you trying to cool the whole city down?" When I held the refrigerator door open too long.
"Do I need to come up there?" Father. A couple times. Well, yeah, we each got spankings.
"Settle down!" Father. So we would be quieter, but not before we wiggled to the ground like a snake, saying, "S-s-s-s-s-s!" with a laugh. he would smile, then we'd be quieter.
"Because I said so!" I thought I would never say this, but I did probably four or five times, and it gave me great satisfaction.
"This hurts me more than it hurts you." Never believe that, child! Never. Ever!
"When you have your own children, you'll pay! They'll be just like you!" Mother said that a lot. Well, I grew up, had children, and if they "made me pay," I must have been an absolute angel! But I know I wasn't! Hm-m-m-m.
"Look what you made me do!" Unhhhh. Don't say that. Please.
"You're sitting there until you eat every bite -- I don't care if it's all night!" I tried that but had pity. Never could go through with it. Besides, that makes overweight adults!
". . . and it's your fault!" I only used this one after, "I love you!" As in "I love you, and it's All Your Fault!" Still saying it to them and now to the grandchildren. I love the twist on these words.
"Because I'm the Mom, that's why!" Saved these words for last, because I saved them for when they wree adults, too. Used when I wanted to do them some favor that I knew they would try to reject. Kind of like, "I am paying your family's way this time because I'm the mom!"
Ah, children are a blessing. Where would we be without them????
I have also said "don't make me stop this car" once or twice...
I can also remember hearing "If everyone else was going to jump off a bridge would you do it too?" or "But I'm not "everyone else's" mom"...both in response to not getting to do what "everyone else" was doing or getting...I don't remember using the bridge thing but for sure I've said I'm not everyone else's mom....
The two I inherited from my mother are "I don't have to tell you why. I'm the adult." and "Stop bickering!" My sister and I are the only two parents I know who use the word "bicker" regularly.
I like "if you can't play together, you can clean together," and I may use it to get some closets taken care of!
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WHAT??!!??
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