Mums are usually wonderful and wise but they can make mistakes and give some bad advice.
- “Don’t wash your hair during your periods.”
This is an old Italian belief, together with a ban on having showers and on touching plants – which would die. Hey, lady gardeners, it’s time for weeding!
- “Never contradict your husband, if you want your marriage to survive.” Yea, right.
- “As a woman you have to know how to cook and to clean the house.” I’m not even commenting on this one!
- “Just ignore the bullies and they’ll go away.” Really? That easy?
- “You can be anything you want to be.” Except for being taller/ whiter/ blue-eyed/a different race/ an astronaut/ a supermodel. I’m still waiting to become Queen.
- “Men don’t like women who are too clever”. This sounds to me like pep talk for dumb women.
- “It’s rude to discuss money.” I guess that’s for the same reasons why it’s rude to talk about sex or knickers?
- “Don’t be a quitter.” Good news for smokers. Or bad?
- “Finish everything on your plate.” Even if Grandma overfilled it?
What are the worst pieces of advice your mum (or other family members – dads sometimes speak too) have given you?
The Sicilian Mama 
What a funny post Mama!! I’m pretty sure my mother actually did give me some of the advice that you have listed! The strangest advice was all of the precautions she made us take during thunderstorms – don’t use the phone, don’t shower or bathe, don’t use the toilet, don’t even go near water at all, don’t go near electrical outlets, don’t sit near windows, and the strangest one of all – during thunderstorms do not pet the cat! Whenever there was a storm I would be afraid to do anything but sit on the floor in the middle of the room and pray that the cat didn’t come near me!!! 😀
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So interesting and funny, your mum’s thunderstorm-proofing advice! I’ve lived in a tropical country for a while and I remember that thunderstorms were serious matters, enough for a special alarms to be sounded in all the public open spaces. Your mum’s thunderstorm precautions,in some ways, I guess, make sense. The cat one a bit less. Or was it just an excuse to keep you way from a particularly aggressive one?
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Well I guess since I’ve never been struck by lightening she must have been on to something! 😀
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Quite right! 😉
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I think I’ve heard all of this from aunts, my granny, and my dad! One of the worst is about cooking. Even boys/men will go around saying they won’t marry a woman who can’t cook, yet some of them can’t cook for themselves, what would they do if the wife left or passed away? When if he really loved said woman he could just teach her how? Or learn together. And if cooking is your main qualification for a good woman- well you’re going to struggle finding the one. But I’ve never heard not to wash your hair during your period lol or I don’t remember
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I think the one about washing hair during period might be a specifically Italian thing. It’s funny that you say that boys go around saying they won’t marry a woman who can’t cook. I thought they just thought it but weren’t brave enough to say it 🙂
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That period one is in India too. Many more weird regarding periods 🙄 Don’t touch the pickle, it’ll spoil. Don’t touch anyone else (oh yeah, that’s written correctly), Wash every cloth you touch during periods, do not go to religious places n what not!!
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Ah ah ah, that’s even worse!
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Oh yeah they’re brave enough alright, especially on social media. Most people are brave on social media. And then some girls reply, “Well you’re a man, can you build a house or fix a car?” ☺️
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Sassy girls, good job!
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My mum also told me not to wash my hair during my period and she wasn’t Italian. I still don’t get it!
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Very interesting! Such an international piece of bad advice must have roots into something. I’ll do some research and share what I find.
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I’ve found this possible explanation for the no-hair-washing rule: “Some cultures believe cold water causes menstrual cramps and thus discourage bathing during menstruation”. I think goes back to the times where warm water was an incredible luxury…
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Oh gosh, ignoring bullies is a common mother thing, clearly. Mine drummed it into me that when molested turn your face the other way. The joys of being non-confrontational.
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Did it work?
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As I grew older (and world wise) no. When I moved to another city to work, I once slapped someone (because he had groped me) and got slapped back twice as hard. It was horrific but we live and learn. Rest assured, my mother does not know about it.
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Poor you, what a horrible experience! I can see why you didn’t want to upset your mum.
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More than anything, she would have dragged me back home and I would have lost my own little home. If you know what I mean, so I had to keep it under wraps. But life is such a journey. We keep learning and then some more x
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That’s a good attitude!
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🙂
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I always heard the “finish everything on your plate.” Its definitely the reason I still over-eat now – i just can’t leave a plate unfinished!
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It rings so true! And were you allowed to fill your plate yourself when you were a child, or were you served by others?
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I love this! My mom used to tell us not to shake our legs because you will shake off good luck. Too funny. A Korean thing.
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This is very funny! And you just reminded me of an Italian superstition about legs/feet: if anyone brushes a broom against a girl’s feet, she’ll never marry.
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A broom! Too funny.
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Hahaha..I really liked it. 😁
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Thank you 🙂
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🙂
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Funny post! What weird period-related advice. So old-school. Probably dates back to when it was still mysterious and men thought it was gross (okay, men still do!!).
I like the “Don’t discuss money” advice; I think it’s best to leave dollar amounts out of the conversation.
My mom actually gives really good advice, although I don’t take her clothes advice anymore – her 65yo sense of still doesn’t work for me, lol!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! 🙂
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Thank you for popping by! Your visit is very timely: I was just planning to nominate your blog for an award, if you don’t mind?
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Wowzers! Thanks for the kudos! Sure, I guess I can handle it. 🙂 I’m just about to peruse your site more.
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Thank you for visiting x. I hope you have fun 🙂
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Hilarious! I had the “girls shouldn’t be too clever” from my Nan and “always answer the door to your husband in something Pretty!” Haha
You are my new blogcrush and I’m sorry I haven’t popped over for a while as you were one of the first blogs I followed!
https://lucyathome.co.uk/blogcrush/blogcrush-week-26/
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Thank you for popping back! x
Have a wonderful day (and do try to look a little dim if you meet any old grannies, won’t you, please? 😉 )
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😳 my dim face. 😂
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haha this has made my day, so funny! Hmm guess I better learn to be a better cook and housewife and be careful what I say, I mean I wouldn’t want to appear smart in front of my hubby or he may leave me!!!! So funny #blogcrush
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Sure! 😉 And I reckon that ‘funny’ is about as dangerous as ‘smart’, so be careful 😉
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She said, “find a man half as nice as your father.” Why less ‘nice’ why a man, and now they hate each other! Go figure! #blogcrush
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Quite right! Her ‘advice’ worked much better as a compliment to your dad than as a useful instruction. Still, I’m sorry for how it turned out for her and your dad.
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Can I ask why you’re not supposed to wash your hair during your period?! This post did make me laugh, the whole ‘you can be whatever you want thing is such a lie,xx #blogcrush
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Thank you, very glad you enjoyed this post.
Yes, a very good question: why the hair-washing ban?
I’ve answered it in the post that comes after this: https://sicilianmamaunsolicited.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/dont-wash-during-your-periods-and-other-menstruation-myths/
I hope you get a chance to read it, xx
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I guess I can own up to half of this post. Old world instructions on how to be a proper wife were drilled into me for many decades 🙂 but none on washing my hair 🙂 Great funny blog!
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Thank you 🙂
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