Bless Your Heart

Hey y’all! I wanted to share with you how “Bless Your Heart” came to be. When I close my eyes and picture the phrase, I see a group of middle-aged friends sitting together with a tall glass of sweet tea, chatting about their lives. They look up to see a young lady who is having a time managing an inconsolable crying baby. One of the sweet girls says to the others, “She just don’t know, bless her heart”. Cue the zestiest phrase in the South!

When I come to Ohio, I tend to get the “Where are you from? I knew that accent wasn’t from around here.” Most of the time, I try my best to sound professional rather than a little country bumpkin, but the fact of the matter is; I was born and raised in East Tennessee. I’m proud of that! I have a nice, slow drawl to my speech, and I like to drink sweet tea out of a mason jar while sitting on a porch swing. “Bless Your Heart” is the picture perfect southern phrase. You see, bless you heart can show sympathy, pity, or dress up an insult… because remember: southerners don’t act ugly! Here in the South, we believe in being polite, even if it kills us… so sometimes we just say “bless your heart” instead of something rude or ugly because it makes us feel better.

Going back to the group of friends I referenced in the beginning. “She just don’t know” could be referring to several things. It could mean that in later years, as our babies grow up, we tend to forget about the nights and days of crying and fussing… or at least I have! As a momma to a girl who is growing up all too quickly, I have found myself missing the days of her sweet little voice yelling “Momma” from the other room a million times, snuggling in for afternoon naps with her because she wouldn’t take one alone, and listening to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse until I was dancing a jig to the Hot Dog song all around the house. It could also mean that when our babies cry, we panic because we feel that everyone is inconvenienced by it. Maybe it just means that as a young mother, this sweet young lady has some things to learn. In this instance, adding bless your heart takes on pity.

The phrase “bless your heart” has more to do with your tone than the actual words. It takes real skill to use this phrase correctly, and it takes time to get the proper infliction to your voice! The next time you see something that you would normally call someone out on, just say, “Bless their heart, they must not have been taught any better”.

I pray you all have had a wonderful beginning to a new month. I hope you have a wonderful weekend filled with your favorite things, and that you get some much needed rest.

You deserve it, bless your heart!