Hellobee Boards

My Grandmother was a deeply religious woman and I always remember her telling me "be sure your sins will find you out". It's always stuck with me and helped me make some good choices in dicey situations!

When I was about 7 or 8, my friend and I were talking to her older teenage sister about periods and we somehow left the conversation with the impression that your period only lasted two HOURS, at max (LOL). My mom laughed so hard when I told her that, and sadly, she set the record straight it was life-changing to find out a period lasted days and days, not only a few hours!!!

@birdofafeather: similar. My parents always did okay but when I was younger they were definitely paycheck to paycheck. I can remember several times when things happened like the car breaking down or the fridge breaking and hearing hushed conversations between my parents about what to do and my mom crying. It's always made me really committed to staying out of cc debt and keeping a good emergency fund. I mentioned it to my mom once and she said she felt badly that they like, scarred me for life or something (and they are more than fine now), but I'm glad because it made me really careful financially!

I can't think of anything they said that really affected me for life like the OP is talking about… although my mom did always say there were some things you don't buy off-brand and those things include tampons and condoms, which I think is just good common sense And when I was really little (like 4) I loved playing with worms and my mom hated it so she told me that worms have teeth so I'd stop trying to keep them as pets. I started bawling and was terrified to walk in grass in the rain for fear of worms biting me until I was like 10. lol

@Danizaur: ha my mom always drove a manual. So when she would leave me in the car to run into the gas station she would say "if the car starts rolling jump into the drivers seat and push the middle pedal!" I was always scared the car would start rolling back. I drive a manual and when I park it's always in gear plus the emergency brake.

My dad always said grades were earned not given. This stayed with me as I took ownership of my effort.

My grandma would tell me not to walk on sidewalk crates because I could fall through. I thought I might fall into hell. Oh boy there was a lot of jumping while I was just supposed to walk.

My grandma also told me God hears what you say and yoyr thoughts, but the devil can only hear what you say. Saying mean things about yourself or others can be used by the devil and we don't need to give him ammunition. This definitely curtailed gossip!

@Vegmama: @Danizaur: I also touched the gear shift while playing alone outside and the car came about half an inch from hitting my parents house!!! I ran inside HYSTERICALLY crying. My mom kept trying to calm me down and get me to tell her what happened but I just kept yelling that I couldn't tell her because she would be mad at me. When they finally went outside and saw what I did I didn't even get in trouble. They decided my hysteria was enough. Plus... They shouldn't have left a five year old outside unattended!!!!

For me what really sticks with me is that anytime we would see someone smoking my mom would grab me or my brother by the collar and say in a joking but serious way " if you EVER smoke you'll be in BIG trouble". It's really shaped me into being kind of judgy about smoking. Like I can't understand why ANYONE of my generation smokes. Didn't their parents know enough about how bad it is to teach them to never ever do it?