Where Bloggers Live: The Best (& Worst) Advice I’ve Ever Received
Welcome to this month’s edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes, interests, and lives? Every month a group of seven bloggers share their work-spaces, homes, towns, and thoughts, with posts based on specific prompts. It’s been so interesting over the years to see the different ways each of us interpret the topics.
Let me preface this post by saying…I Do Not Care for Advice. Well, unsolicited advice. And there have been precious few people in my lifetime whose advice I have solicited.
Maybe it’s my stubborn streak, but it just irks me to have someone “suggest” that they know what’s better for me than I do. And I especially dislike when people GIVE (unasked for) advice and then get annoyed when you don’t take it. HARUMPH, they say, I Was Just Trying to Help!
And I have no problem asking for advice when there is someone whose opinion I respect. And who really understands all the facets of whatever issue for which I’m seeking advice.
All That Said (by Cranky Bettye), I have received several gems of wisdom over my lifetime…and these I will share with you (as well as the worst advice I ever got).
Interestingly, these were all from my mother.
In regard(s) to umbrellas…it’s always better to have it and not need it…than to need it and not have it.
Obviously, this can apply to many other things as well: a jacket, a toothbrush, credit card, passport, etc.
Of course, I am also the person who is always lugging around a 10lb bag, so…sometimes you have to weigh your options (and I do have a small telescoping umbrella in my 10lb bag).
PS: Koreans love an umbrella. Sun, rain, snow, they’ve got an umbrella. On hot days it gives them shade…on rainy or snowy days, it keeps them dry. I’m amazed that “umbrella in the snow” just never even occured to me, but it makes perfect sense.
At the movie theater, always sit in an aisle seat, that way if a tall person sits in front of you, you can still lean into the aisle to see the screen.
BRILLIANT, MAYME. She probably told me that when I was in my teens and I live by it to this day.
There are other perks to the aisle seat: not having to crawl over people to get out for food or bathroom, if there are annoying people in your row, you can easily get up and move, if there’s a fire you’re the first one out.
And now for the, uhm, I don’t know that it’s really “bad advice,” she probably meant it as advice, but it was actually just a mean thing to say to your child. That you gave birth to.
The back-story is I was leaving to go on a weekend church retreat (hey, they had a fun youth group) with friends and my 2-years my senior boyfriend. And literally as I was walking out the door to get in his car, she grabbed me by the elbow and hissed at me…
Don’t forget – it only takes a minute and it can ruin your life forever.
Thanks, Mayme. Advice? Sure. I understand she was warning me of the dangers of sex ending up in a teen pregnancy. But seriously, don’t say to your CHILD that getting pregnant “can ruin your life forever.” This was sort of a theme of hers anyway, so I may be particularly sensitive to this wording.
So MY advice is…Don’t Say Cruel Things to Your Children Under the Guise of Helpfulness.
PS: I don’t generally give advice unless asked.
Visit my friends’ blogs as well, to see if they have any good advice for you!
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own
Lisa
In hind sight, I said so many stupid things to our kids. Reading this made me think of quite a few.
Sally in St Paul
There seems to be an “adult saying stupid things to kids” theme going on right now. Marsha at Marsha in the Middle had some wowzers from her past in a recent post. The umbrella advice is great. I definitely saw a lot of umbrellas-as-parasols when I lived in North Carolina. The only time I have seen an umbrella used in snow was when I was in college in Houston; a friend from Mexico City used one on the only day we had snow (the most insignificant snow flurries you could imagine) while I was there.
Daenel T.
Umbrellas in general are a wonderful gift from the insightful soul who got tired of getting wet. I keep umbrellas in the arm of the driver side door {yes, umbrellas. I have a variety of colors and patterns to ensure that they match my outfits. LOL Because fashion AND function.
Adults can be cruel. Especially the parental types. I tried not to be that way with my kids, but I’m certain I failed in many ways. But I tried not to be cruel.
bettyewp
I need to replace my little mini umbrella, it was cheap to begin with, and the last MONSOON ripped it off its bones (or whatever they’re called). I have a big one for when I’m going out INTO the rain…but I carry a smaller collapsible one in my bag for “maybe” rain days. They’ve both seen a lot of use this year! I really never used to carry an umbrella…I just didn’t go out when it rained! Now is a different story. Rain, no rain, you gotta go out.
Leslie Susan Clingan
Oh, my gosh. This post and your mother’s sage advice remind me of 2 gems my mother imparted to me when I was a teen. Don’t sit on a boy’s lap and don’t get in a bathtub after a boy has been in there. I don’t quite understand all of the mechanics of what I presume would lead to ruining my life (too), but I guess the threat is real.
Folks in El Paso use umbrellas – parasols – all spring and summer. We don’t have rain so I guess they feel like they need to get their money’s worth by using them on sunny days. I wish I had had one at PC’s last baseball game today. Our car said 113* and there was ZERO shade to be found. I am still sweating 3 hours later.
bettyewp
Don’t get in a bathtub after a boy has been in there! Ha ha! At least my mother’s advice made sense! Not to mention, how often does THAT scenario occur?? Unisex consecutive bathing! Ha ha.
jodie filogomo
It’s funny how that theme of pregnancy has changed over time, don’t you think? Back in the day, it was so taboo, and yet now, it is what it is.
Sometimes, I think the newer generations have a better handle on life.
XOOX
Jodie
bettyewp
Oh for sure there are (mostly) healthier ways of looking at things now.
Can you even IMAGINE, in 1960, a woman CHOOSING to get pregnant and raise a child on her own? They’d have had her committed!!!
Iris
Well, all pretty good advice. I don’t remember my mother ever giving me advice – instrucitons, yes.
I’ve never been one to seek advice either. I’ve made plenty of mistakes over the years, but they were my own.
Iris
bettyewp
Yeah, that’s part of my aversion to “advice,” I think. I want to do it, try it, fail at it, figure it out On My Own. *I* want that experience. I don’t want to do or not do something based on someone else’s experience~