“Momma Knows Best” :: Lessons I’ve Learned from My Parents Over the Past 34 Years

Whether or not we want to admit it, our parents were and always will be right. The saying “Momma knows best” is truer as an adult than ever. Each teaching moment and lesson was setting us up for a bigger and brighter future.

I have learned so many lessons from my parents over the past 34 years of my life. Some I still don’t like and don’t agree with, but they are right.
  1. Save your money – when people say you can’t take it with you when you die, I try very hard not to roll my eyes. Prime example, the pandemic. Thank God for a savings account.
  2. No man/woman will ever be good enough – I never understood this until I had a child. Don’t get me wrong, my parents love my husband; however, there is not a person on the planet who will ever be good enough for your child in your eyes. My parents believe I am pretty damn close though.
  3. Care for your environment – I finally get it. Recycle. Recycle. Recycle.
  4. Don’t do drugs – simple enough. My parents did not allow us to hang out with anyone who they knew were doing anything illegal. We were not allowed to bring anything illegal into our house. Trust me, I never even thought of it. I was not scared of my parents, but I never wanted to or want to disappoint them.
  5. Good Manners – please and thank you go a long way. I make sure my son says it TOO MUCH. I want to instill that manners are a very important part of life and show respect.
  6. Friends: Quality over Quantity – in high school and college, I had so many friends. There were some that parents would tell me not to hang out with. I did not listen. I got in trouble. The next day, they were out of my life. I hated being “told” who to hang out with. But thank goodness I eventually listened. I have a handful of amazing friends, I don’t need a lot.
  7. If it feels wrong, it probably is – trust your gut. Trust your motherly instinct.
  8. Do not take advantage of anything – anything worth having, you have to work hard for. Don’t take advantage of people, the government, work, children – no matter how wronged you feel, do not take what is not yours, and do not misuse the system.
  9. Your siblings will be your best friend when you are older – my brother, sister and I fought all the time. Now that we are older, we are closer than ever. I cannot imagine my life without them – and now we laugh at all the stupid fights we had back in the day.
  10. Don’t put your feet on the wall – this one used to make me so annoyed. My parents would come in my room, see my feet on the wall and tell me to take them off. They explained why but I never listened. Now I get it. They paid for those walls, they paid for the paint, don’t be disrespectful!
  11. Don’t jump on the sofa – similar to the above. I paid for the couch, don’t mess it up and don’t be disrespectful. Another example of – it will make sense when you have a kid!
  12. Don’t lose your retainer – sounds funny right? However, here I am, 34 years old, and I just spent $3,000 plus on Invisalign. If I had not lost my retainer, several times, I could have taken a vacation with that money.
  13. Fill up the gas tank – there are some people who fill up at half a tank (my father) and some who filled up when the tank was on E (me). I finally learned, get gas sooner. You never know when there will be traffic. You never know if you could get stranded. Living in NOLA, you never know if we need to pick up and evacuate. Just do it – just fill up the tank.
  14. Don’t drive in flip flops/sandals – sounds silly, too. But don’t. Flip flops and sandals make driving a little more dangerous than it already is. Flip flops are not suitable for driving because they do not allow you to have your foot correctly applied to the brake and gas pedals.
  15. Always have snacks – wherever we went, my momma had snacks in her purse. Smartest. Thing. Ever. I have hyperglycemia, and before I finally listened to my mom about having snacks in my purse, I would get weak in the most inopportune places and faint. Now I always have snacks in case I feel my blood sugar dropping. Another good reason to always have snacks – a 3-year-old boy who seems to be hungry all the time.
  16. Commit to your spouse – my parents have been married 44 years. If this is not the best example of marriage, I do not know what is. Marriage is tough, you have to work at it every day. But seeing them together as their children are grown and having grandbabies, I want my husband as my life long partner and best friend for life, too.

I call my parents on a daily basis and usually the conversation starts with “Well, you were right, again…”. It was tough as a child/teenager to admit your parents were right, but as an adult, I am reminded daily that they were and always will be.

My parents are unicorns – they know everything, it’s scary.
Erika Lockhart
My name is Erika Lockhart and I am married to my husband, Chris. We have two children - Zane (7) and Finnley (2). We also have one 4 – legged child - Nelson a mixed breed rescue and a tarantula named Twitch. I was born and raised in Harvey, LA but now live in Metairie. I am a full time employee for a healthcare consulting company where I lead the Primary Care Provider engagement efforts from my home office here in NOLA. My husband is the owner and director of Clockwork Performance - A strength and performance gym in Kenner, LA. Odd facts about me - I love watching Judge Judy, I want to be on jury duty as much as possible, I have an obsession with mayonnaise and my dream job is to be a private investigator!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here