...ain't nobody happy.
I've always hated that phrase, because it is so grammatically wrong that when I first heard it, I couldn't even understand what it meant. But yesterday, I spent hours cleaning my kitchen- scrubbing crevices, wiping down cabinet doors, scouring the sink. And today, I walked into the kitchen to find: crumbs all over the counter, cereal bowls and a pan in the sink, the butter sitting out, and someone had wiped the extra butter off the butter knife onto the edge of the sink. Are you kidding me?
So I did a google image search of "If mama ain't happy" to see if I could find a picture of this saying to put up in my kitchen. I didn't find one I liked, but I found this blog where a nice lady named Sandra talks about why she hates the phrase. She feels like it's used as a threat, a sort of "You better make me happy or else" kind of statement. I never thought of it that way, but I can see how you might interpret it like that. However, some of the comments she shared bothered me.
From her blog:
That said, I don't think "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" is a threat. It's just a statement of fact. A mom is often the center of the household. She is the glue that holds all the pieces together. And if she's unhappy, even if she tries to hide it, there will be an impact on the rest of the family. Kids have emotional radar. They know when Mom is upset, and it affects their moods and behavior.
Today, I am VERY unhappy, and you can guarantee that my family is going to be unhappy, too, until they learn something about respect and responsibility.
I've always hated that phrase, because it is so grammatically wrong that when I first heard it, I couldn't even understand what it meant. But yesterday, I spent hours cleaning my kitchen- scrubbing crevices, wiping down cabinet doors, scouring the sink. And today, I walked into the kitchen to find: crumbs all over the counter, cereal bowls and a pan in the sink, the butter sitting out, and someone had wiped the extra butter off the butter knife onto the edge of the sink. Are you kidding me?
So I did a google image search of "If mama ain't happy" to see if I could find a picture of this saying to put up in my kitchen. I didn't find one I liked, but I found this blog where a nice lady named Sandra talks about why she hates the phrase. She feels like it's used as a threat, a sort of "You better make me happy or else" kind of statement. I never thought of it that way, but I can see how you might interpret it like that. However, some of the comments she shared bothered me.
From her blog:
"Someone in an exchange had written
I don't think anybody in the family needs to bend over backwards to make anybody else happy. Not possible, not fair even if it were.I responded:
I think the mom needs to bend over backwards.I'll agree with the first sentiment, but I have a real problem with the response. Why should the mom bend over backwards to make everyone else in the family happy? Of course the mom wants to keep her family together, and she wants her children to be happy, but she is not the family servant. A mom who constantly puts her own needs and feelings aside and bends over backwards to make her family happy is doing her family a disservice. She will raise children who are selfish, with little sense of personal responsibility, because they are used to Mom always giving in and doing whatever they want to keep them happy. A mom has a responsibility to her children- and the world that will have to deal with those children- to teach them that happiness is a personal responsibility, and that you can't expect to be happy all the time. She has a responsibility to be angry with them when they do something rude or irresponsible, say, leaving their dirty cereal bowls in the sink after she spent hours cleaning the kitchen, for example. She has the right to be unhappy, and to let it show.
Whose job is it to make a good nest if not the mom's?
Who needed to reproduce more than the mom?
Who should want to keep her family together and her children happy more than the mom?"
That said, I don't think "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" is a threat. It's just a statement of fact. A mom is often the center of the household. She is the glue that holds all the pieces together. And if she's unhappy, even if she tries to hide it, there will be an impact on the rest of the family. Kids have emotional radar. They know when Mom is upset, and it affects their moods and behavior.
Today, I am VERY unhappy, and you can guarantee that my family is going to be unhappy, too, until they learn something about respect and responsibility.
