4 Things I Never Thought I’d Say to My Kids - Wisler Plumbing & Air

Never is a major word. The older that I get, the more I realize that if you use the word ‘never’, you’ll probably eat crow later on. There were a few things that people told me when I was growing up that I thought were annoying, and I thought I’d never say those things to my own kids. But now I realize that they just come naturally when you have children of your own. Here are 4 things that I never thought I’d say.

#1: “When I was your age…”

People used to tell me dramatic stories about how things were back in their day. They usually led to an explanation about how good that I had it as a child. I put a slightly different spin on ‘When I was your age’: I don’t use it to make my kids feel bad because they have it so good. Instead, I tell them about how I used to do things when I was little.

#2: “Dry it up.”

My children are young, so sometimes they cry about things that don’t really matter. Because I’m a fairly direct person, I’ll tell them to dry their eyes. (I have a harder time saying that to my daughter than to my son.) It only happens if they are tired or hungry, and I think it’s human nature.

#3: “Wake up!”

When we were growing up, my mom used to always yell to us upstairs, “Wake up!” To me, it sounded like she was practically screaming at the top of her lungs. Just last month I caught myself doing the same thing. I was hollering up the steps to wake my son up on a Sunday morning before we went to church. I immediately remembered how much I didn’t like that when I was little.

#4: “Don’t go out alone.”

Nowadays it’s well known that most parents are a little more protective of their children. There are a few situations where you warn your children so they don’t hurt themselves. On the other hand, sometimes there are situations where they have to learn something for themselves. When I was growing up, I’d go outside for hours. I remember being four or five years old and walking out of the house at any given minute because that’s just how things were back then. Things are very different nowadays—if any of my children were gone for hours, there would probably be a major panic. We just have to accompany our kids outside of the house. I don’t know exactly what has changed, but saying, “You can’t go out by yourself,” is something that I didn’t ever think I’d have to say. I guess it’s just the reality of the time that we live in.

In terms of plumbing, I haven’t yet found myself telling my son the same things that my father told me when I was little. My son is only five years old, so it really hasn’t started yet. He kind of goes back and forth thinking about what he might like to do when he grows up. I don’t think plumbing is on his list. Last time the conversation came up, he said he would like to just stay home and relax, since it was the easiest thing to do. We ended up discussing how responsibility comes with adulthood and how you have to go out and work. You can’t really blame him for thinking that, though, can you?

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