A new friend and I started reminiscing about all the things our parents said to their children when the children were playing creatively or rough. We were watching some other people's children throw sand in the air and yelled and that sparked the conversation. We didn't want anyone's children to get sand in their eyes or ears. The children were having such fun though. They proceeded to go exploring on a big mountain of compost.
My friend said his dad used to yell "Don't run with a spoon in your mouth."
I recalled that in my childhood home there were a lot of ways to "break your head open." These included racing up stairs and around swimming pools, swinging on the swing set too high, and well, just about all dangerous activities.
We agreed though that today's children are overprotected, and making them wear helmets to ride bikes and plugging up electric sockets, for instance, makes for the implication that they are fragile and (too) precious.
My friend and I compared notes and decided that though we are of the same generation and the sayings we heard growing up to warn us of danger and injury had seemingly not made it all the way to the next state.
Childhood wit and sayings that are part of your upbringing ought to be included in your family history writing. They tell the story not only of your generation but of race, class, ethnicity, of generations - of time and place. They will certainly sound odd to future generations.
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