Advice My Grandmother Gave Me That I Never Forgot

Advice My Grandmother Gave Me

My grandmother was a wise woman. She was a thoughtful person and chose her words carefully. She was also chock full of wisdom and said things that had been passed down from one generation to the next. Occasionally she would say something that would make me ask, “What does that mean?”

For instance, whenever my grandmother had to re-do something that she hadn’t done correctly she would say, “I guess I have to lick my calf over.” I can’t imagine why anyone would lick a calf in the first place, or how that expression came into existence but I’m sure there’s an explanation out there somewhere. I suppose today we would call it a “do over” but that isn’t nearly as interesting as licking a calf.

If Grandma ever heard me whistling she would comment, “A whistling girl and a crowing hen always come to some bad end.” I would always stop whistling but I wish I had asked where that one would come from and what was the basis of this? Maybe she just didn’t like my whistling but I don’t know what she had against the hen. I also wondered exactly what kind of “bad end” they met but I never ask about that either and now it’s too late.

Did you know that if a woman marries and doesn’t change her name she is doomed to die of a bellyache? At least that’s what my grandmother said, and when it comes to dispensing advice she had a unique perspective.

When we watched television together I would sneak a peek at her during the commercials. When something she didn’t understand was advertised she would squint her eyes, peer over the top of her glasses, and scratch her head. “What in the Sam Hill are they advertising?” she would ask.

Sometimes I knew what they were advertising and sometimes I didn’t. But then again, I never knew who Sam was or how he was connected to anything either.

I bet most of you remember this one, “A watched pot never boils.” Of course it will eventually boil but sometimes it does feel that way.

Or where did the expressions “Dad gum it” or “Dad blame it” come from? What did poor old Dad do that was so terrible that he always caught grief about it?

Members of her generation most likely know words like “drekly” (directly), “reckon,” and “recollect.” They know that if someone says “I’ll be there in two shakes of a sheep’s tail,” they won’t have long to wait, and they understand what it means when “the pot calls the kettle black.”

I may never know why someone had to lick their calf over, and I may never find Sam Hill, but the thoughts and beliefs of my parents and grandparents live on through me. The familiar phrases they used comfort and guide me.

“Sow a thought; reap an action.
Sow an action; reap a habit.
Sow a habit; reap a character.
Sow a character; reap a destiny.”

Did your grandmother say any of these? Did she have some unique quotes of her own? Please share them with us!

You can read more about my Grandma Layne here.