Do you remember all of the things your parents said to you growing up that seemed stupid at the time, but as you grew up, you realized the importance of what they were saying? You’re not alone. Like many things in life, understanding comes with experience. Here are several things boomers heard growing up, then repeated to their own children after understanding the truth of the statements. Did you hear these phrases growing up in your home?
1. “Close the Door. Were You Born in a Barn?”
One of the oldest adages still passed down from generation to generation is more of an instruction followed by a rhetorical question: “Close the door! Were you born in a barn?” That’s the edited version. Depending on your parents, the phrase may have a couple of popular curse words scattered throughout it.
Of course, anyone who pays the electric bill will be the first to tell you that, as stupid as it sounds, it’s accurate. My boomer father’s favorite phrase to add to this was: “We’re not heating the outdoors!”
2. “The Days Are Long, but the Years Are Short.”
An idea that is impossible to understand until adulthood is: “The days are long, but the years are short.” As parents, we truly begin to understand what the phrase means with each passing milestone. Another variant of this logic is: “Time passes faster the older you get.” The best way to change that reality is to deviate from routine and make new memories. Still, the truth remains, and you won’t know it until about mid-life.
3. “Don’t Listen to Your Music So Loud.”
We all grew up hearing, “Don’t listen to your music so loud. You’ll go deaf!” When you’re young, and that bassline or guitar solo hits, the volume up is best. However, older adults with Tinnitus warn that it’s not something parents say to annoy their children. The ‘Eternal E’ ringing of the condition is real, and it’s more annoying than hearing your parents tell you to turn the music down.
4. “We Have Food at Home.”
Depending on where you are in the country, you may have heard your boomer parents or grandparents remix the “We have food at home” adage by swapping food out with whatever eatery you requested.
For example, I grew up hearing, “We have Mc. Donald’s at home!” While everyone knows that nuggets at home don’t even compare to a child, as an adult budgeting accordingly, it doesn’t matter, and it’s not stupid at all to say, “We have food at home!”
5. “Sit up Straight. Don’t Slouch.”
Every student leaning over their desk grew up hearing. “Sit up straight. Don’t slouch.” The reality is that slouching creates posture issues, and good posture is more important later in life than people understand as the adults in their lives try to convey that fact to them.
6. “Turn Off the Lights!”
Besides being born in a barn, boomers grew up hearing “turn off the lights,” with variations of “when you’re not using them” or “when you leave the room.” Naturally, anyone paying an electric bill can attest this is excellent advice that saves money and energy. Still, children can’t fathom that comprehension.
7. “Buy It Once. Buy It Right.”
One of the best pieces of advice is, “Buy it once. Buy it right.” That sentiment has become more valuable in a world with mass-marketed and low-quality junk. However, it’s also becoming more challenging to heed the advice due to practices like planned obsolescence, where the company designs the product to break, so consumers have to repurchase it later in life.
8. “Show Me Your Friends, and I’ll Show You Your Future.”
Truer words have never been spoken: “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” The implication is that if you hang out with losers, you also become a loser. Whereas, surrounding yourself with goal-oriented people going places, you’ll also go places. Other variations of this statement include: “Birds of a feather flock together” and “You are the company you keep.”
9. “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.”
It isn’t until your world experience grows to a grander understanding that people appreciate the truth in the statement: “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” After people experience life’s struggles and real losses, the sentiment sinks in, and it’s easier to live this life mantra.
10. “Youth Is Wasted on the Young.”
You don’t have to be a boomer to acknowledge the reality: “Youth is wasted on the young,” but it hits harder at retirement. Many people in their mid-sixties have the minds of their younger selves, but their bodies have betrayed them with aches and pains that make indulging some of their passions and hobbies more challenging.
You don’t know until your knees consistently hurt going up the stairs that things like dancing and basketball will never be the same.
11. “Life Isn’t Fair.”
Perhaps the most difficult lesson is: “Life isn’t fair.” Sometimes, bad things happen to good people, while terrible people are blessed. There is no apparent rhyme or reason to the sometimes painful chaos. Still, once you can appreciate the truth, it becomes easier to stop sweating the small stuff.
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