"...and the mother wasn't home."

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It has been long time since this phrase has been a staple in our lives, but even nowadays I can say to my mother "...and the mother wasn't home" and she'll know it is a reference to her caution and especially her annoyance at a certain kind of news report. When we were kids, even well into our teens, she'd not let us do much in the house when she was gone, because she was sure that if there were to be an accident, that broadcast news reports would end with "...and the mother wasn't home".

Today another broadcast news story was delivered similarly. If she heard it I'm sure she again replied as I did with this: And where was the father?

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