12 Things My Mother Taught Me About Life

1. Punctuality is Key

You set your own alarms; skip the shower if you want to sleep a little later (at your own expense of personal hygiene of course). If you missed the school bus, you find your own way to school. If you have to be there at seven, leave the house at six. Never be late, it’s disrespectful.

2. An education is important

You don’t have to be a scholar, or earn a nobel prize. Read. Read to your interest. Interact; talk to people you wouldn’t usually talk to. You should be aware of the world and all its wonders, as well as the way it works and how it crumbles. Stop being a dreamer in your own fantasy.

3. You will make bad decisions

But you will learn from these terrible choices. How will you learn how to get up if you never fall?

4. Cook your own food; just don’t burn the kitchen down

Anything edible – really. Besides, when it all goes down it comes right out of you.

5. Save your money, you’d need it for rainy days

“How many times have I told you to turn the lights off when you’re not using them?! My electricity bill is shooting through the roof!” (I’ve heard this phrase more times than counting my fingers and my toes over the past 21 years of my life).

6. You earn your own keep

Want that new hand phone model or a trip overseas with your friends? Get a part time holiday job or give a child some tuition. Money is a chore to earn, but never a big deal to spend, and you need to learn the importance of that.

7. God is everywhere

You don’t need to attend church to know god. The people you meet on the streets aren’t necessarily bad people, and the people you meet in church might not necessarily be good people.

8. Never use “It’s meant to be,” unless you have exhausted every single option

Some situations are beyond our control, but some measures are within our reach.

9. Never be the girl who depends on a man for material gain

To be called a gold digger comes in the second most shameful derogatory term of the century (the first being a slut) in the mother handbook. And besides being called a double pants chaser, did you really need that handbag?

10. Love with all your heart – but at the right time

Certainly not when you’re at an age where one of you could be jailed for statutory rape. Not when you’re still figuring out pieces of who you are. Not when you’re in shambles picking up the leftover pieces of the past. You’d know when you’re ready to love, and when you do- it’s going to be amazing.

11. Trust yourself

She questions you not because she doesn’t trust your decisions. She wants to know that you are capable of enforcing your opinions. Some questions might be rhetorical too. Think child, think.

12. People don’t last the ages, no matter how much you love them

A mother’s job only lasts so long as she’s around. So ask- ask all the questions that you’ve wondered about- your heritage, her life and your young days- before time stops for one of us.