Some of the best advice I have ever heard did not come from books or podcasts. It came from old women in small kitchens, snapping green beans and telling the truth. The kind of women who could correct your entire life with one raised eyebrow and three well chosen words.
Now I am the one with grandkids underfoot and a few more lines on my face and I feel a whole lot more protective of the generation coming behind me. This world is loud, fast and a little unhinged some days. I cannot fix that, but I can leave a trail of bread crumbs in the form of simple things I hope they remember.
And yes, I will confess, I have watched my fair share of Todd Chrisley over the years. Say what you want, but that man has some serious southern zingers that stick. Some of his one liners live rent free in my head right beside the things my own grandparents used to say. Southern truth has a certain snap to it, whether it comes from a rocking chair on the porch or a reality show confessional.
So this is for my grands and for anyone else who needs a straight talking Gramma voice in their corner. A tiny handbook for hearts, boundaries and common sense.
One-liners A Grandparent Might Tell The Grandkids:
🎯 If you have to hide it, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.
🎯 Nothing good happens after midnight except babies & bad decisions.
🎯 Don’t marry pretty crazy. Pretty fades, crazy doesn’t.
🎯 Your friends show you your future, so choose carefully.
🎯 If they wanted to, they would. Believe that & move on.
🎯 The loudest one in the room is usually the most afraid. 🎯 Never trust a person who’s rude to the waiter.
🎯 You teach people how to treat you by what you allow.
🎯 Apologize fast, forgive slow & remember the lesson.
🎯 Money doesn’t make you better, it just makes you more of what you already are.
🎯 If you’re the smartest one in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
🎯 Don’t chase people. Chase purpose.
🎯 The right people will keep up.
🎯 You can start over at any age.
🎯 The clock is a bully, not a boss.
🎯 If you wouldn’t be proud to tell your gramma, don’t do it.
🎯 Pretty is nice. Solid is better.
🎯 A good nap fixes more than half the drama you think you have.
🎯 You don’t have to attend every argument you’re invited to. 🎯 Learn to cook three things well & manage your money. The rest you can Google.
🎯 Guard your peace like it’s the last biscuit on the plate.
🎯 When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
Gramma-isms:
❤️ Listen, sugar, if you have to whisper it, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.
❤️ You don’t owe anybody your peace. Not friends, not family, not nobody.
❤️ If they only call when they need something, that’s not a friend, that’s a bill.
❤️ Pretty is fun. Kind is required.
❤️ If you can’t say it to their face, don’t say it at all.
❤️ We don’t do coward talk in this family.
❤️ God gave you a brain and a gut. Use both.
❤️ You are not a doormat. If they keep wiping their feet on you, move.
❤️ If they make you feel small, that’s not love, that’s control.
❤️ You can love people & still tell them no.
❤️ You don’t fix people. You decide what you can live with.
❤️ If you’re crying more than you’re laughing, something needs to change.
❤️ Gramma loves you dearly, but I will also snatch you back to reality if I have to.
❤️ Don’t date anyone you wouldn’t want your kids to act like. ❤️ The first red flag is the only one you needed. The rest are just decorations.
❤️ You teach people how to treat you. Class is always in session. ❤️ Silence is also an answer. Use it wisely.
❤️ You are allowed to outgrow people, places & versions of yourself.
❤️ If you have to constantly explain why they’re not that bad, they’re that bad.
❤️ You are nobody’s second choice.
❤️ I didn’t carry all this stress in life for you to be an option.
❤️ You can start over on a Tuesday afternoon at 3:17 if you want to. No big moment required.
Grampa-style Wisdom:
🎣 If they lie small, they’ll lie big. Write that down.
🎣 Show me your friends, I’ll show you your future.
🎣 Don’t argue with fools. People might not know the difference.
🎣 You want respect? Start with how you carry yourself.
🎣 Never trust someone who’s rude to the waiter.
🎣 If you’re too good for hard work, you’re in for a hard life.
🎣 You don’t need everything you want & you don’t deserve everything you ask for.
🎣 Your last name matters. Don’t drag it through the mud.
🎣 You don’t have to like somebody to be decent to them. That’s called being raised right.
🎣 If you’re always the victim in your own stories, you left out some parts.
Gramma Being Funny But DEAD Serious:
🖤 I’m not Google. Don’t ask me for answers you already know you’re ignoring.
🖤 If common sense was sold at Target, some of y’all would still leave without it.
🖤 You can’t pour from an empty cup, but you also don’t need to be everybody’s drink dispenser.
🖤 If chaos follows you everywhere, baby, you might not just be unlucky.
🖤 You’re not hard to love. Some people are just bad at loving.
XOXO, Jani (aka: Gramma)
Journeys With Jani 