The Origin of Mumsaid
When I was very young, there was a phrase we used to mean, "You had better listen and obey, because Mom told you to."
If a statement was preceded by "Mumsaid," it was immediately turned into a directive. For example, "Mumsaid to go change the laundry." That implied that the laundry was to be changed from washer to dryer, a new load started, and the clean clothes brought upstairs immediately.
If you questioned any direction and heard "Mumsaid" as your answer, no further explanation was given or necessary...that word was Law.
Self: "Why should I go change the laundry? I am reading/playing/drawing/watching TV."
Sibling (usually older): "Mumsaid."
Self: "Awwww....but I don't want..."
Sibling: "Mumsaid."
Self: "Fine." And Self stomps downstairs to complete the chore, mimicking the sibling saying the Law.
As the youngest, it was with pure spite that I enforced the "Mumsaid Law." Orders passed through me to my brother and sister were delivered, pigtails bouncing as I joyfully skipped from one end of the house to the other, with a somewhat evil grin, knowing that my older sibs were required to do what I said. Upon delivery of the message, however, I was subject to Older Sibling Justice: tickle, pinch, punch, or the dreaded Indian Sunburn. This sort of justice could be avoided by delivering the message from a safe distance, prepared to run away to the safety zone marked by proximity to my mother's eye.
As I embark on the journey of motherhood for a second time, I ponder the use of "Mumsaid" in my own home. My children will be almost 9 years apart. I can just see my littlest, at five years of age, grinning wildly as he or she trumps my oldest, then fourteen, by telling him "Mumsaid."
Passing on this Law is inevitable. It seems almost necessary to have such a directive for the sake of the Household and it's smooth operations.
But seriously? Am I really the "Mum" who "said?" When did that happen? I swear I was just a kid, sorting my Smurf figurines after my brother brought me a new one from The Pharmacy.
Time does indeed fly.
If a statement was preceded by "Mumsaid," it was immediately turned into a directive. For example, "Mumsaid to go change the laundry." That implied that the laundry was to be changed from washer to dryer, a new load started, and the clean clothes brought upstairs immediately.
If you questioned any direction and heard "Mumsaid" as your answer, no further explanation was given or necessary...that word was Law.
Self: "Why should I go change the laundry? I am reading/playing/drawing/watching TV."
Sibling (usually older): "Mumsaid."
Self: "Awwww....but I don't want..."
Sibling: "Mumsaid."
Self: "Fine." And Self stomps downstairs to complete the chore, mimicking the sibling saying the Law.
As the youngest, it was with pure spite that I enforced the "Mumsaid Law." Orders passed through me to my brother and sister were delivered, pigtails bouncing as I joyfully skipped from one end of the house to the other, with a somewhat evil grin, knowing that my older sibs were required to do what I said. Upon delivery of the message, however, I was subject to Older Sibling Justice: tickle, pinch, punch, or the dreaded Indian Sunburn. This sort of justice could be avoided by delivering the message from a safe distance, prepared to run away to the safety zone marked by proximity to my mother's eye.
As I embark on the journey of motherhood for a second time, I ponder the use of "Mumsaid" in my own home. My children will be almost 9 years apart. I can just see my littlest, at five years of age, grinning wildly as he or she trumps my oldest, then fourteen, by telling him "Mumsaid."
Passing on this Law is inevitable. It seems almost necessary to have such a directive for the sake of the Household and it's smooth operations.
But seriously? Am I really the "Mum" who "said?" When did that happen? I swear I was just a kid, sorting my Smurf figurines after my brother brought me a new one from The Pharmacy.
Time does indeed fly.
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