The Gracious Journey : 2015

They can make your heart swell .... and they can drive you crazy ...

... but nothing surpasses the love that develops from raising a child ....

... nothing exceeds watching them learn and grow, laugh and play, and negotiate their way through life .... not even the hardest of days! It is wondrous and magical ... like a secret enchanted garden that only you can see and appreciate!!!

Motherhood is surely the most challenging, the most rewarding, the most frustrating, the most satisfying, the most underrated, and undervalued, and misunderstood job of all time ...!!!

"As it stands, motherhood is a sort of wilderness through which each woman hacks her way, part martyr, part pioneer....."

Rachel Cusk

One thing we must hold onto is our humour ..... :)))

... some classic quotes of mothers!! I may have said a few already .... I certainly remember hearing a few hahaha...... and I'm sure I will use a few more in my years to come!

All I do is follow you around, picking

up after you like some maid.

Am I talking to a brick wall?

Are you deaf or something?

Are you lying to me?

As long as you live under my roof,

you'll do as I say.

Beds are NOT made for jumping on.

Close the door! You don't live in a

barn.

Do as I say, not as I do.

Do you think I'm made of money?

Do you think your socks are going to

pick themselves up?

Don't make me get up!

Don't talk with your mouth full!

Don't walk away when I'm talking to

you!

Eat your vegetables, they're good for you.

Enough is enough!

Go play outside! It's a beautiful day!

How do you know you don't like it if you haven't tasted it?

I brought you into this world, and I can take you right back out!

I didn't ask who put it there, I said "Pick it up!"

I don't care what "everyone" is doing.

I care what YOU are doing!

I don't have to explain myself. I said no.

I hope someday you have children just like you.

If God had wanted you to have holes in your ears (eyebrows, tongue, etc.) He would have put them there!

If you don't do it NOW, then when are you going to do it?

I'm not going to ask you again.

I'm not your cleaning lady!

I'm not your waitress!

Life isn't fair.

Look at me when I'm talking to you.

Money does NOT grow on trees.

Nobody asked you.

Over my dead body!

Pick that up before somebody trips on it and breaks their neck!

Put that down! You don't know where it's been!

Shut the door! I'm not heating (air conditioning) the entire neighborhood!

So it's raining? You're not sugar - you won't melt.

So what if Bob's mom let him do it? If Bob's mom let him jump off the Empire State Building, would you want me to let you do it too?

Someone is going to end up crying.

Watch your mouth!

Well, I haven't figured out how to cook "cold" yet.

What did I say the FIRST time?

What if everyone jumped off a cliff? Would you do it, too?

What part of NO don't you understand?

When I was a little girl...

When I was your age, I had to walk ten miles through the snow, uphill, by myself, to go to school.

When you have your own house then you can make the rules!

Who do you think you're talking to?

Who taught you THAT? You didn't learn that in this house!

You can't find it? Well, if you'd put things where they belonged, you wouldn't have this problem.

You don't always get what you want. It's a hard lesson, but you might as well learn it now.

Answer me when I ask you a question!

Bored! How can you be bored? I was never bored at your age.

Cupcakes are NOT a breakfast food!

Did you clean your room?

Did you flush?

Don't ask me WHY. The answer is NO.

Don't EVER let me catch you doing that again!

Don't make me come in there!

Don't use that tone with me!

Don't you have anything better to do?

Go to your room and think about what you did!

How can you have nothing to wear? Your closet is FULL of clothes!

How many times do I have to tell you?

I can always tell when you're lying.

I don't know is NOT an answer.

I said CLOSE the door, I did not say SLAM it.

I would have never talked to MY mother like that!

If I catch you doing that one more time, I'll...

If I want your opinion I'll ask for it!

If I've told you once ... I've told you a thousand times.

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

If you don't clean your plate, you won't get any dessert.

If you don't stop crying, I am going to give you something to cry about!

If you're too full to finish your dinner, you're too full for dessert.

I'll treat you like an adult when you start acting like one.

I'm going to give you until the count of three...

I'm not always going to be around to do these things for you.

Is your homework finished?

It's no use crying over spilt milk.

I've had it up to here with you.

Look at this room! It looks like a pigsty!

No, I don't know where your socks are, its not my day to watch them!

Now, come back downstairs and go back up WITHOUT stomping your feet!

Now, say you're sorry...and MEAN it!

Running away? I'll help you pack.

Running away? Is that a threat or a promise?

Some day you will thank me for this. SMACK!!!

Think of those poor starving children in India... (or China, or Africa.)

Turn off that light. Do you think we own the electric company?

Watch your language!

Were you born in a barn? Close the door -- and DON'T slam it!

What do you think, money grows on trees?

When I was your age...

When you have kids of your own you'll understand.

Who do you think you are?

Who said life was going to be easy?

Why? Because I SAID so, that's why!

You can go out to play...after you pick up your room.

You can go out to play...after you've done your homework.

You had better wipe that smile off your face before I do it for you.

You just ate an hour ago!

If you’re hungry have an apple.

You WILL eat it, and you WILL like it!

If you’re bored go and walk the dog… or tidy your room

Just because ..... ok!

“When you’re in the thick of raising your kids by yourself, you tend to keep a running list of everything you think you’re doing wrong. I recommend taking a lot of family pictures as evidence to the contrary.” — Connie Schultz