Some residents of the South Hills neighborhoods in the Route 51 corridor recall the wise and witty "mom-isms" -- sayings they heard from their mothers during childhood -- in the days leading up to Mother's Day on Sunday.

We're sharing with our readers.

"Eat the crusts on your bread and you'll get curly hair."

-- Steve Rippe, 79, of South Park, retired newspaper printer, from his late mom, Hilda Lutz

"You can't go barefoot until after Mother's Day."

-- Lori Finley, 45, of Pleasant Hills, family business owner, from her mom, Joy Jenkins, of Jefferson Hills

Ms. Finley said: "Mom meant regardless of how warm it is outside, the ground is still cold enough to make you sick."

"Do you think I just fell off the turnip truck?"

-- Nancy Crowder, 43, of Whitehall, homemaker, from her mom, Donna Thomas, of Whitehall

Ms. Crowder explained: "She said it when I was telling her some half-truth or lie. We always thought we were smarter than our parents."

"No matter what you do, I'll know."

-- Jane McMullen, 75, of Baldwin Township, retired county jury commissioner, from her late mom, Edna Evans

Ms. McMullen said: "We lived in the small town of South Connellsville, Fayette County. We thought Mom had some sort of magical power because anytime we did something we shouldn't have done, she knew about it."

"Don't wash your hair and go out in the cold weather because you can get Bell's palsy [facial nerve paralysis]."

-- Marian Joseph, of Baldwin, retired licensed practical nurse, from her late mom, Agnes Birringer

"It's just a stage, and it comes in sixes: six days, six weeks, six months. You should have patience; it shall pass."

-- Terrie Eger, 46, of Jefferson Hills, activity director at Southwestern Nursing Center, from her grandmother Margaret Miller of New Eagle, Washington County

Ms. Eger explained: "She says it whenever I tell her something bad about my kids."

"Wait until your father gets home."

-- Kevin Stiffey, 50, of Baldwin Borough, draftsman, from his mom Audrey Stiffey, of Brentwood

Mr. Stiffey explained: "When mom said that, we knew we were in trouble.''

"The father is the head of the house, but the mother is its heart."

-- Alva Bertha, 89, of Whitehall, a retired nurse, from her late mom, Amelia O'Brien

-- Compiled by freelance writer Margaret Smykla