When you a child, what things did your mother tell you that you've never been able to forget?

This thread is such a lot of fun. I love the cartoon and red shoes too. Like Bradfordgirl's mum, nothing personal most especially sex education was ever discussed in our house. My Welsh granny generously shared most of her superstitions with us. One my mother particularly adhered to was no white flowers in the house or worse white and red mix. She still won't allow it.

Hetty

For some reason your mum is reminding me of Blanche Hunt in Coronation Street, please don’t be offended, I loved her

I remember the clean underwear one! I said that my underwear would no longer be clean after I'd been run over - perfectly logical - but that was dismissed!

As for toenails, she said varnish would only draw attention to how ugly they were, whereas I thought it might disguise their ugliness.

One thing she said that I'll always remember:

'Life is alright as long as you don't expect to enjoy yourself'

(Thanks, Mum)

Once something has been said, it can never be unsaid, no matter how much you apologise. My father said never lend anyone more money than you would be prepared to give them. Both pieces of advice have stood me on good stead over the years.

Feelingmyage

As a very picky eater, I was frequently reminded of starving children in Africa, I remember once saying, well you can send them my dinner, I don’t want it, and getting a good slap!

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Racist parents BradfordLass - now there's a whole nother thread! My father was against anybody not white or English, but having been in the rag trade since the war, he had had a lot of dealings with Jewish people and had respect for them.

However, back to Mums' words of wisdom: I remember Jane Garvey on Woman's Hour saying that the only advice she would give her daughter would be to always wash her bras by hand.

I've never done that.

I remember all these, except my mother would have died rather than talk about periods or personal things in any way, shape or form.

But I was either curious, argumentative or both and asked 'how can chewing gum get tangled round your intestines, it's inside a tube all the way down?'

And 'If you get knocked down, your underwear is going to get dirty and bloody anyway, and wouldn't people be too busy trying to help you to look at your knickers?'
Notwithstanding my questions, I had clean underwear every day and, of course, still do but not because my mother said so!

My parents were casually racist and anti-semitic and I just could not believe people in other cultures were inferior to us. We were nowt special.

When I was an adult my mother used to say, 'There was never any telling (advising) you, when you were little, you allus wanted to go your own way.'

But to me, it was just that I wanted to know how and why
I simply could not accept nonsense just because my parents said so.

What an infuriating kid I must have been

—schilling— shilling

All of the above. Eat up, there are starving children in Africa - true I know - but I could not stomach tripe?
Always keep your knees together. “Save yourself”. - inexplicable to an 11 year old who didn’t know the names of her “bits”. Couldn’t relate that to my bank book with the odd schilling deposited on a Saturday morning. “No one will want you if ......” I stayed out after midnight, got in a car with a boy, wore eyeliner, painted my nails etc.

canadiangran please, please, where did you get those shoes? May I have them when you have grown out of them?

Me too CanadianGran

Earwigs crawl in your ear and make their way into your brain. I'm still very nervous of earwigs.

Pierced ears are "common". I got mine pierced in my 30's.

Handsome is as handsome does (passed down from her mum)

When poverty walks in the door, love flies out the window.

And several other cheery little pieces of advice like that.

As to the "don't go out with wet hair", I went swimming with my friends on a cold winter's day and walked home, with wet hair, whereupon I got the most awful migraine. So perhaps there is some sense in it.

Bad luck to put new shoes on the table, same with putting a brolly up indoors.
Don't swallow chewing gum as it'll wind itself round your innards!(but I wasn't allowed chewing gum! ).
Always smile (I was a surly child ?)
Make do & mend (to think I used to darn the 'potatoes' in my children's socks )
"Marmight, Marmight strong & able take your elbows off the table, this is not a horse's stable, this is Mummy's dining table" (my children had it recited to them and now my grandchildren)

Or the famous question - " Do you want a smack ?"
Answer - "oh yes please "

Mum always said to let people come to you if they wanted to engage you in conversation. I followed this advice and was consequently thought of as stand-offish. It eventually dawned on me that if everyone followed this advice, then no-one would actually get around to speaking with anyone!!

(When I was doing risky things in the playground, etc.) "If you break your leg, don't come running to me?"

My first (very little) pair of heels were red and nowadays I have a pair of red booties and red loafers.

Look at the red shoes I have... some old fashioned mothers would roll over!

So many of the things mentioned here were also told to us by Mum. Sitting on cold steps, umbrellas, etc. I think many were based on knowledge at the time, or superstition. But I always had a pair of red sandals in summer, even as a child. Still love red shoes!

Talk is cheap is one I remember and hold true today.
She also told me men don't look at the fireplace when they're poking the fire.

I was never to wash my hair if I had a period- what the connection there is, is beyond me! I also think I was not to have a bath then either.

I am still waiting for sex education!

So many of these ring a bell with me.. No red shoes, nor patent leather shoes as men would be able to see if I was wearing knickers , pretty much anything and everything I wanted to wear was responded to by ‘young ladies don’t wear things like THAT!’ It’s a wonder I ever found anything suitable to wear...

I remember my mum sitting me down to tell me all about menstruation. She was embarrassed, I was embarrassed and I couldn't bring myself to tell her that I knew all about it from my Human Biology lessons

Oh - and she would never mention menstruation, let alone washing hair or any other old wives' tales associated with it.

My mother was very mild-mannered and never told us outright not to do anything. She did have a thing about ankle-straps and black clothes, though.

And her favourite shoes at the moment (she's 99) are a pair of red Hotter flatties.