The prompt for this week (Week 30) is Tattle Tales. What happened if you "told" on someone? If your sister hit you and you ran to Mom or Dad, what was the consequence? Record your stories before they are forgotten. As Judy G. Russell of the Legal Genealogist blog says, “Oral family history can be lost in three generations". This is your chance to record and preserve yours.
In my family we were not allowed to tattle. No matter what. My mother hated tattling and if you were foolish enough to run to tell on your brother or sister, *you* were the one who got in trouble. There was no line for "this is serious so it's okay to tell" and "this is a minor dispute".
My older sister and I always did the dishes after supper, and she always took that opportunity to pinch and twist the skin on the inside of my elbow. It hurt like heck and I would cry. My crying made my mother furious, I suppose because in her mind, it was pretty close to tattling on someone!
She would refuse to listen if I tried to tell her what had happened. All she was concerned about was the noise and commotion in the kitchen. Since I was the one crying or yelling at my sister to stop, I was the one causing the problem in her eyes.
My mother would yell out for me to stop all the noise. If that didn't work and she had to come into the kitchen, I was in trouble. The minute she'd leave, my sister would give what I considered an evil grin and immediately pinch and twist my skin again. I learned pretty fast to suffer the pain silently.
And no, I did not carry on my mother's tradition with my own children! They could come to me with anything and I listened. I didn't always interfere as I wanted them to learn to handle their disputes if possible. But if there was hitting or pain involved, I put a stop to it. In my house the rule was "if you hit, you sit" meaning there was a time-out for anyone causing physical pain to someone else.
What was it like in your family?
I was the oldest and if something bad happened, it was automatically my fault and was punished for it, because I "should have known better"! My sister milked this to the max and never got in trouble!!! After over 60 years my parents are finally starting to realize it. Better later than never, I suppose.
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