Mom’s Pure Wisdom

This post is sponsored by Nestlé® Pure Life®.

My mom never suffered from “empty nest” syndrome.  I bought a house seventeen houses away.  We work together, so we carpool every day.  It’s a good thing we get along so well!

There are so many amazing things about my relationship with my mother, including all of the wisdom she shared with me.

Some of my favorite Mom-isms:

• You know the spit sucker at the dentist?  Don’t hold it up to your ear to figure out if it’s on.  If the answer is yes, you’ll be sorely disappointed and probably a little embarrassed when the dentist has to release its deadly clutch from your face.  The red welt you leave with doesn’t help your pride.
• Some days, eat candy for breakfast.  My mom has a sweet tooth that she passed along to each of her children (in her defense, my dad has a comparable sweet tooth so we could have easily gotten it from him).  Sweets were never taboo, never completely forbidden. Of course, we had to learn moderation so we weren’t horribly unhealthy.  I appreciate that some days she bent the rules a little bit.
• There are two important hostess lessons I learned.  One, the hostess can wear slippers.  My mom always throws lovely parties that require work on her part.  By the time the party started, she was tired of the heels and traded them for slippers. Guess what?  Realizing the hostess is relaxed is a great thing for guests.  Make yourself at home.  Pet the cats. Change the music if you’d like.  Have fun.  The second is not to wait to clean up.  Nobody likes scraping day-old food off of plates. Wash the dishes after the party.  As grueling as it seems in the moment, waking up the next morning to a clean kitchen is so much better.
• Growing up, my mom coached volleyball & basketball.  Family legend has it that my mom went into labor in the middle of a volleyball game, but allowed the game to finish before going to the hospital.  It was baby #5 so I guess she could have delivered the baby herself if needed.  Now that she’s retired from coaching, she still stays active.  What I took from watching her on the court was that you don’t outgrow sports, you don’t outgrow playing. But if you want to keep playing, you’ve got to stay hydrated.

Nestle Pure Life is joining up with families like mine in their Hydration Movement to keep us active and feeling good by staying hydrated.  On the Nestle Pure Life Facebook page, you can see other words of wisdom and tips to stay hydrated.  You can add your own mom’s Pure Words of Wisdom.  Hopefully your mom won’t mind you sharing stories like the spit sucker at the dentist!

What words of wisdom did your own mom give to you?