Vim & Vigor - Winter 2012 - University of Virginia - (Page 10)
So
I Said
Were those health sayings from your childhood powerful mom mantras or outdated wives’ tales?
Because
“Don’t
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Vim & Vigor · W I N TER 2 012
make that face; it’ll stick like that” was one of my mom’s favorites. And even though I saw through that ploy to get me to settle down, she had other sayings that made me think twice before disobeying. I sat a proper distance from the television to avoid going cross-eyed. I dried my hair before going out in the cold so I wouldn’t get sick. And after eating sweets, I brushed my teeth so they wouldn’t fall out (which, of course, when I was 6, they did anyway!). Was there any truth to my mom’s words of wisdom? I did some digging to see whether there was validity behind her go-to phrases as well as some others I’ve heard over the years. Here’s what I learned.
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