Father Sez

No, this is not about Microsoft’s latest offering.  

I have previously written a little about our family’s Mission Statement. 

It’s pretty long for a Mission Statement, with 8 points covering the areas of life such as family, health, religion, money, friends, community etc. 

However we also have a family tag line. And it is just one line.  

WORK WHILE YOU WORK, PLAY WHILE YOU PLAY THAT IS THE WAY TO BE HAPPY AND GAY! 

This was told to me by someone I lived with more than 4 decades ago (Gosh! Has it been really that long?). I think this line was about the only English he knew. He had learnt this from one of his teachers and had stuck in his mind. I have no idea why this line stuck in my mind. Perhaps it was because I thought it was funny, being quoted by someone who hardly knew English.  

Now we use it often at home. When the two elder girls got their first cell phones (when they signed up for college) this WWYW, PWYP, TITWTBH&G was about the most common message that I would text to them. 

The younger children, too, have heard it enough times to learn it by heart. This is the line I use, when they sleep in during weekends and school holidays. 

To my housemate (I can’t remember his name now. Just the mental image of him appears when I try to think back of the times he had quoted this line to me) and the teacher who taught it to him, I offer a belated thank you. 

I am not sure if my children will quote this line to their children and maintain it as their own family tag line, but who knows!