As you know, every now and then, Lauren lets me into her head. She had this little jewel in her email a few days ago.
People always say you can tell a lot about a person by the way they describe a glass of water filled halfway. Is it half full or half empty? It supposedly reveals the way a person perceives the world. My glass is hopelessly half full.
You see, every Southerner has a soft spot for the proverbial wisdom of Mama. Whether it be Forrest Gump’s “Life is like a box of chocolates…” or some nonsensical superstition, we can’t help ourselves but to ‘listen up good” when a sentence is prefaced with, “Mama always said…” We all have our own “Mama always said” lists. Mine includes some bad things happen in threes, pretty is as pretty does, and my personal favorite, a good pair of sunglasses and lipstick can go a long way. These M.A.S.s were from my Mama’s mama. Maybe it is this deeply-rooted regard for mama’s wisdom that accounts for my urge to always want to preface the following with “Mama always said”—”Mama always said charm and efficiency were mortal enemies.” I always liked that M.A.S. It kindly pardoned my persistent tardiness with my supposed Southern charm. Unfortunately, the troubling fact is my mother never said that and I wouldn’t describe myself as possessing the much-coveted Southern charm. Most certainly though, what I may lack in charm, I make up for with incredible inefficiency, and consequently, my glass is hopelessly half-full. Of what, I’m still not quite sure, but to be half-charming and hopeless in the romantic sense isn’t so bad. What’s your glass like?Annette’s note: I wished I had half of my mother’s wisdom to share with my children. So I guess that cup is half empty, but my inbox is always full–does that count? And truthfully, my cup runneth over. So, tell us how you view life or a piece of wisdom that has meant something to you.
annette geffert 
Oh, I think my glass is half full of green jello. ’cause even if it gets knocked over, it’ll still have something in it. (this philosophy explains why Mary Jane is half tempted to smack me much of the time.)
I know my kids comment about me saying “if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” I also say “I don’t care what grade so and so got on such and such. They’re not my child.” And I know their personal favorite (and one used all too often) is “you can fail in public school for free.”
love,
karen
I know there are a thousand of these swirling in my head, but for the life of me I can’t recall one now. Thanks for sharing this, though, because it made me think about and appreciate my mother once again.
I’ve always loved the M.A.S. on sunglasses and lipstick since I first read it on your blog. I’ll adopt it from you. I’m thinking of you today and giving thanks to God for you. You’ve blessed my life.
Love & blessings-
Shonda
I am sure you shared plenty of mama’s wisdom with your children.
A couple of my M.A.S.’s – I don’t care what ______ does, I am not her mother. I will know if you are not wearing a slip under that dress young lady. Horses sweat, young ladies perspire.
Thanks for the chuckle this a.m.
Love, Annette H