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I Told My Kids This Brilliant Mommy Mantra
Then I found out it was a lie
I’m with my sister and her boys. My own guys are young and acting up so she comes to my aide by eliciting the help of her son.
“You can’t be disrespectful,” she says. “Christian, tell them what we say in our house.”
“Don’t speak ill of your mother, don’t rat out your mother, and your mother is your best friend,” says Christian.
We burst out laughing.
I think it’s brilliant!
I label it the ‘Mommy Mantra’ and it lives in our house in perpetuity.
For years, I reference it when necessary. My boys repeat it. We adhere to it. We laugh about it. It belongs to us. It works.
The ratting out your mother part comes in particularly handy. Little kids have a way of announcing the cringe-worthy. It can leave even the best mother speechless.
“We wouldn’t have been late but my mommy wanted to stop at Starbucks.”
“My mommy said a bad word and honked her horn at a car.”
“My mommy’s letting me miss school to go to the beach.”
“My mommy overslept and that’s why I’m late.”
