Mum's Pearls of Wisdom

Back in March, my good friend Jen Gilroy wrote a blog about motherly advice, to coincide with Mothering Sunday. It was a heart-warming piece and the comments that readers left were equally thoughtful.... which made it rather difficult for me to leave a comment, because the advice I got from my late mum apparently wasn't in keeping with the advice given by everyone else's mothers. But if you'd ever met my mother, that wouldn't come as a surprise.

Now that a few weeks have gone by and Mothering Sunday is some distance away, I thought I'd let you in on the advice I received from my mother.

When my brother and I were around 7 or 8 years old, we were given pocket money for the first time. This is the advice Mum gave us.

To my brother, she said, “You must be careful with your pocket money and learn to save up, because one day you'll have a wife and family to support and a mortgage and bills to pay, so you must start being careful now.”

To me, she said, “You must spend every penny that comes your way, because one day you'll have a husband and children and from that day onwards, you'll never have any money to call your own.”

She then added, “And you must always give your husband the best piece of meat.”

And in case you're imagining her as a downtrodden little mouse with a frilly apron and a 1950s complex, you couldn't be more mistaken. My mum was a big-boned, robust woman. She was quick-tempered, impatient, opinionated and judgemental, but she was also enormously generous and had an exuberent sense of fun. She was guided by a strong sense of duty and always did what she believed was right, no matter how inconvenient or downright difficult it might be.

Having read her motherly advice, perhaps you can appreciate why I didn't feel it sat comfortably in among the wise words about consideration and love and do-as-you-would-be-done-by that characterised Jen's blog and comments. And don't get me started on Mum's idea of careers advice for a daughter....

Have you ever received any unconventional or - let's face it - downright sexist advice? Do you give your husband the best piece of meat?! Do tell. I'd like to know I'm not alone.