My mom is the cutest little Jewish mother ever. At work they call her “q-tip” because of her afro.
She has two sayings that have always stuck with me and I wanted to share them with you.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
I really like this one. It does not mean to be annoying, loud and cry for attention. It means that we need to be persistent and not give up when aiming for something.
You forget how hard you ran after the mile is over.
Work your ass off because when it is over you forget how hard you worked.
What do your moms say?
15 responses to “My Mom’s Theories”
Would love to join your Lifecoaching group
Every since I came to the US of A, every time i talk to me mum on the phone, she keeps telling me “Be careful of white men”. And on the bright side, she told me this “Everything will all come together one day”, which is very true. Also, i would like to thank Noah for writing his blog because it keeps me from feeling lonely from time to time 🙂
I like the second one about forgetting the pain of running of the mile after it’s over. (They say this is why women continue having children even after the pain of giving birth.) It’s hard to remember this when you’re actually running the mile, unfortunately.
I need an elaboration on Susan Jones’ “The more you cry the less you pee.” I’d love to add that to my own list of sayings, as anything with a little potty talk is up my alley, but I can’t imagine what it could mean.
I’ve also heard “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” as a way of talking about resources, in that the resources that have most problems are the ones that get the most attention. Like being used to explain to someone why they aren’t getting as much oversight or help from a superior than they might expect. In other words, be glad that you aren’t, because that would mean you are screwing up. Took me a while to accept that when I entered the workforce, but it was about having the self-confidence to see oneself as a kind of equal with them and how the lack of attention was actually about the freedom of autonomy.
“The more you cry the less you pee”
My mum says “Clean your fucking room” and “Wait till your dad comes home”
Noah:
My wife tells me the same thing. But when I bring home a wad of cash every week it calms her down a little.
But I sold the wad of cash business hoping to make buckets of cash… that reminds me of the saying, “A bird in the hand…” (or about the dog and the bone’s reflection.) Oh boy!
My mom: She says, “I”m excited for you.” She’s prob the reason I feel like it’s ok to take business risks.
“I love you” comes to mind 🙂
But she used to always tell me not to grow up to fast, but I am not sure why that stopped.
it’s a family affair . . . 🙂
OMG! highlight of my day. noah brier’s mom commented on my blog. this rules.
good points. one from my mom recently is “go get a real job or get out of my house.”
my mom is cool=)
my mom’s favorites (from 50 years ago):
que sera sera
and
do what you think is right (way before Spike Lee!)
The former was meant literally, the latter meant, I don’t agree with that decision, perhaps you should give it more thought.
(We grew up in a very subtle household … but it always worked!)
P.S. The golden rule came from my grandmother 🙂
“Jason, when are you going to settle down and get married?”
Sorry i had to be honest. My mother does not spurt off self-help phrases. I got enough of those when my dad read me childrens books when I was younger…And the morale of the story is blah blah blah…
I love your stuff Noah, but are these phrases really going to help some high school student acheive success. I think the best thing to tell them is to get off their ass and do something. You are not going to be CEO right out of college. work your way up and aceive something. And don’t whine along the way. No one is sad for you because your dad is not buying gas for the BMW he bought you for graduation.
I think we baby kids too much these days. Tell it to them straight up. If you don’t start working, someone in China or India will gladly work for you.
Oh by the way, I am a teacher, I have seen the downfall of society. no one is willing to work anymore. They would rather not turn in homework. They would rathwer stay out late and egg cars.
My mom’s a big golden rule proponent: Do unto others as you would like others to unto you.
I like the second one. I often tell fellow students that when tests and finals come around. Sure, work hard now, do well and then you’re done! You’ll see a letter in a week or two and you’ll have the pain behind you.
Hi Noah! In addition to the two “proverbs” your mom mentioned, my mom (and grandmother and greatgrandmother) have always said the very Southern “It all comes out in the wash” meaning that no matter how much we waste time worrying about something, things are going to unfold just as they are.