Did your parents give you any words of wisdom?

After watching so many of my older siblings do all kinds of stupid stuff that got them in big trouble in one way or another, my personal mantra was, “Don’t get yourself into anything you can’t get yourself out of.” My parents were not the type to come bail us out right away if we landed in hot water.

While that bit of wisdom didn’t come from my parents, I have shared it with my kid. I will say that having that mindset growing up made me think hard about the kinds of things I was willing to do or risks I was willing to take, and it made me stop and think through 2-3-4 steps out to what the potential consequences of those actions could be. It kept me out of a lot of the pitfalls my siblings fell into.

I have thought of one quotable piece of wisdom from my family. Never stick your fingers or toes into places your eyes have not been. In other words LOOK. Pay attention to what you are doing. I grew up in an area of  venomous snakes and spiders who like to hide out under rocky overhangs. Sticking hands or feet into those shady recess areas could end up in a hospital trip. 

My mom would always say "Always wear your helmet!" and "No flossing!" as ways to remind us to make good choices. These were usually said with others around as to not embarrass us with more protective words. Last month at our Mom's memorial service, my youngest sister ended her remarks with Mom's famous "Always wear your helmet!" It was perfect.

The only thing I can think of that my mother said was “knee them where it hurts” being her way of trying to make sure I always remembered to look out for myself. I don’t recall her ever saying where that was. 😁

My grandmother was famous for saying, “The world’s full of cactus, but you don’t have to sit on it.” She was an early adopter of the “Let them” theory 🤣

Not really words of wisdom per se but they were very aggressive on their teaching and explaining of all things financial.  Budgeting, checkbook (account balancing), interest, loans, credit cards, taxes, etc.  

They also drilled it into our heads to start any retirement savings as soon as we could and to make sure to take advantage of any 401k/403b as soon as we could and to make sure to keep increasing them.  They also believed in putting money into a savings for an emergency fund, even if it you only start with 10 dollars a month.  They always said you will not really miss that money and will find away to make ends meet, but when you do need it or retire you will be happy you have it and that you got into the habit early to learn to save.

About not getting into CC debt

If you can’t afford to pay for it this month, do you really think you can afford it next month plus interest?

My Dad suggested (and we did) to buy our home instead of rent. This way money goes in your pocket not a landlords pocket. My Father also suggested you have mortgage payment and not mortgage and car or appliance payments.

My mother said "Just because someone says something is so, it doesn't make it so."

Talking about her daughter's new social work position, a relative made a statement that I found true about all employment positions: "No job is as good as they tell you it's going to be."

we had a little plaque on the wall "You get too soon old and too late smart"..

my parents had lots of wisdom.. but not pithy statements.

I remember my mom telling me not to care about what other people think. I think it was one of those situations were I didn't want to wear something because the kids at school would think it was ugly. That is one thing she said to me that I still remember. Of course, I still did let what others think bother me. I was a teen-ager. As an adult, she is always reminding me about safety things.

My Dad said a lot of "things" (gave a lot of commands) but I don't remember too much in the way of wisdom. Usually it was emotionally abusive. But one story sticks out to me. When I was about 5th grade maybe (mid 80s), the Kangaroos Shoes were popular. You know the ones with the little pockets on the sides. And I wanted a pair pretty badly. When I asked him for the shoes he said to me, "do your other shoes work fine?" I said yes. He said, "do you have friends?" I said yes. He said, "then you don't really need those shoes." That made an impression that still sticks with me to this day.