About a month ago, I walked into my four year old son’s room, and said “Rise n’ shine!” I didn’t think about it at all; he asked what I meant and I told him I wanted him to get up and be his best self. Each day from that point forward, I would walk into his room and start our day that way: “Rise n’ shine!” It wasn’t until about two weeks went by that I realized exactly where that saying had come from.
Family Expressions
To understand my epiphany, we must backtrack a little bit. Growing up, my mom had several catchphrases. Some of my favorites include “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” “What does that have to do with the price of butter?” and “Don’t make a mountain out of a mole-hole.” Growing up, I just equated those expressions with my mom. I knew that if I was lounging on the couch, and I asked her to get me a snack (instead of getting one myself), I was going to hear “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” If I chimed in with an opinion related to my siblings or a situation that I shouldn’t have been inserting myself in to, I would hear “keep your two cents to yourself.” I never gave much thought to where she herself learned those expressions.
My grandma, my mom’s mom, passed away almost four years ago now. Losing a grandparent is never easy, and I was devastated. But as I sat there, at her funeral, my aunt got up to speak the eulogy. And my aunt talked about all of my grandma’s catchphrases, like “what’s that got to do with the price of butter,” and “Rise n’ shine.” And I smiled, and realized exactly where my mom learned all those expressions. I myself had never heard my grandma say them. And I smiled, realizing how much of a village motherhood is. How much we learn from our own mothers, without even realizing it. I sat at church and wondered if I was ever going to use the “family catchphrases,” as I call them. I didn’t think I would – they didn’t feel “like me.”
Rise N’ Shine
So, two weeks ago, when I walked into my son’s room and I said “rise n’ shine buddy,” it clicked. And I smiled. I felt proud to use our family expressions, and felt proud to know they were engrained in me, when I hadn’t even thought about it before I said it. When my toddler was throwing a tantrum about the placement of a sticker, “don’t make a mountain out of a mole hole” naturally flowed from my mouth, and I chuckled as I explained to my son what I meant. I’m sure my grandma was looking down on me and chuckling too. And when I told my mom how I had started using these catchphrases, she laughed. Motherhood, after all, should fill all of us with joy and laughter.
I have sense learned that the technical term for these phrases are idioms? Do you have any family idioms? What are yours?
