Do you want to make hydro rich?

Sherri T.

That was the very important question that Sara, the mother of my friend Michelle, used to ask her kids all the time. Whenever they would leave the lights on. Or forget to turn off the TV. Or leave the radio blasting. Or use the hairdryer for a long time (or at least longer than she thought was reasonable or necessary).

 The question was always the same. Do you want to make hydro rich?

 Turns out, Sara was a very wise woman. She never actually told her kids what to do and what not to do. She never gave them orders that they must follow – or else. Sara knew that giving an order ran the risk of someone saying no. Or no way.

 Sara would instead employ the clever mother strategy. Get your kids to do precisely what you want them to do without actually saying it. Achieve your goal without stating it directly.

Now there are many tactics that comprise the clever mother strategy. In this case, Sara employed the humor approach – by asking her kids whether they were deliberately trying to pad the coffers of a huge utility monopoly.

 Of course, the answer was no. Of course, that was not their intent.  Off went the lights. Off went the TV. The radio. The hairdryer.

 Sara’s conservation concern was result of growing up in a family in which you had to count every penny and make every penny count. There was no wasteful expenditure because there was nothing to waste.

 Everyone was cautious and conscious of dollars and good sense. You had to be. Growing up with little meant paying attention a lot.

 We have all heard about the mothers who admonish their kids to eat every last scrap on their plate. The refrain goes something like this: Finish your dinner. There are children starving in ……. (pick a country of your choice).

 When you are raised in straitened circumstances, you straighten out very quickly. You take nothing for granted. You strive to survive.

 Sara used humor to raise a serious issue. And Michelle learned to turn the lightbulbs off. Thanks to her mom, a new lightbulb had come on.