Mums Use Meaningless Phrases To Discipline Kids

By Staff

Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 16:58

Remember your mother saying "wait and see" or "because I said so"? Well, if you think that these old sayings have become obsolete today, here's some news; 8 out of every 10 mothers still give these tried and trusted replies to discipline kids.

Other commonly used quotes are "If someone asked you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?", "You'll have someone's eye out with that" and "What did your last slave die of?"

It is natural for mums to teach children what their parents taught them and it includes the usage of many of the old sayings and using familiar methods of discipline.

Children are always questioning their parents, pushing the boundaries to see what they can get away with. Sometimes a quick retort is all that mums can offer before running out of patience.

More than half of mothers said that they deliberately use some of their parent's best-loved phrases because they think it worked to discipline them. But 40 per cent admit they sometimes they repeat things without understanding what they meant.

While sayings like "Close the door, you don't live in a barn" do baffle mothers, but they keep using them because most children never know how to respond.

2 in every 3 mothers said their parents found it hilarious that their sayings were being re-used on their grandchildren.