Linda G Hill’s prompt for today’s SoCS:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “a phrase you grew up with.” Include in your post a phrase your mom/dad/grandparent/sibling used all the time when you were growing up, or just write whatever inspires you based on that phrase. Enjoy

Mom’s favorite phrase:

How many of us have been threatened with this phrase when we were kids??? ”Just wait until your dad gets home!”

As I recall, Dad was too bushed to address this when he got home, and one of the few times I remember getting in trouble once he got home was when I was chased home by a mean dog. Not because I ran home, but because I left my best friend to fend for herself as the scary dog chased her home.

A little backstory is this dog, Tiger was his name, was feared by the neighborhood because he was a big dog, and his owner, Gary Wampler and Kayes brother-Karl- was his best friend. Why they decided to sic Tiger on us as a prank when we we were just trying to get home is still a mystery to me to this day. Kaye has forgiven me, by the way. Her brother was my childhood crush later on, despite this incident.

The only time other than that I recall my dad spanking me was when i did something stupid, like the time my brother and I stuck the end of a broken phone chord into a wall socket to see if we could get a dial tone. As I remember it, we did, but our elation was short lived when Dad came in the room and slapped us both for our stupidity. “What are you trying to do, kill yourself?” I remember him yelling.

Another time, my mom called me the ”b” word, I was tired of it and raised my hand to her but never made it because the next thing I knew, my dad came out of the woodwork and I found myself on the couch getting my face slapped over and over. I remember not caring about that as much as being mortified because we had three huge picture windows in the front, and I just knew one of the next-door-neighbors was going to walk by and witness the whole thing. Kaye and Karl were those neighbors, along with Kris, Kim, Kerry, and Kent.

Mom was the main disciplinarian, and she was harsh, so her threat to tell Dad on us fell on mute ears for the most part. My brother summed it up when he said Dad’s usual reply to us complaining about Mom was to say, “nothing you can do but mildew.” 🤣😂

Ahhh, childhood.