Everybody’s mothers telling them ‘You don’t pass scissors like THAT….!”

By “THAT..!” you mean with the sharp ends pointing outwards. There’s a right way and a wrong way,  the correct form apparently being for the giver to hold the blades with the finger-holes facing towards the receiver. No childhood is complete without being told this and there is considerable agreement on this piece of folk wisdom.  Mothers dinning it into each new generation is widely regarded as one of the benchmarks of good mothercraft. ‘Don’t run with scissors’ is another of their war cries which sounds like an exception as they usually insist on children running everywhere as in ‘Run and get me the scissors ‘. There have been several quot postings on what mothers say and they are remarkably consistent with each other with regard to scissors as they are on “Don’t go out with wet hair” , “Never go swimming straight after meals” , and ‘What are you doing indoors on a lovely day like this?” . ( See ‘Quot Guide to Childcare’) .

(Hannibal Tuft, Byfleet) - QQQQQ