By DANA DITTMAR, CEO, Sun City Center Chamber of Commerce
Dana Dittmar
When we were transitioning from teenagers into young adults, most of us went through a phase when we were adamant we were not going to turn into our parents. As we matured from young adult into middle life, we often saw that exact phenomenon happen to some degree. When we were teenagers, we thought our parents were fuddy-duddies who had old fashioned ideas. As we matured, we grudgingly acknowledged that, more often than not, they were right.
Throughout the years, I have been guilty of saying Momisms. You know, those adages and lines our moms said to explain why life is the way it is. What’s worse, I repeated them without even realizing it. It was automatic. I was well trained.
Last week, as the calendar flipped to August, a friend asked, “Wasn’t it just Easter? It’ll be Christmas before we know it!” To which I responded, “Life is like a roll of toilet paper. It goes faster the closer you get to the end.”
That was a Momism. She had a hundred others just like that one.
How about “You can’t outthink crazy people”? It’s true. When you come across someone who just doesn’t live in the same universe as the rest of us, you just have to move on and let them be. They may be in their own little world, but it’s okay. They’re at home there.
One time my sister opened a bottle of beer and used it to rinse her hair. (I’ve heard that really works to make it shiny.) My horrified mother admonished her. “That’s alcohol abuse, and there are sober children in China!” I use that one myself a lot.
One of my favorites was “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” This is probably the truest Momism yet, and I see it every day. I see it with friends who battle cancer or who are the caregivers of others. I see it with those who get the news their adult child has had a near-fatal accident. I see it every day in the faces of those who lost almost everything when the economy turned and bravely transitioned from a nice income to working two low-level jobs just to make ends meet. Some call that the American Spirit. It’s what our country was founded on.
Some of her sayings made no sense to me at all, such as, “Why, there’s enough blue sky up there to make a Dutchman a pair of britches!” It meant the clouds were finally clearing out. I hope that happens this week!
I never had kids so I don’t suppose I can ever have my own Momisms. I guess I just have to settle for Danaisms and hope someday someone thinks they’re funny enough or true enough to repeat them. Here’s my first one: When someone asks you how you are, you respond with, “I’m finer than a frog’s hair split three ways.” Or how about “happier than a seagull with a French fry”?
Come on. That’s funny right there. (Thanks, Mom.)
