"Mamma don't play"

When I taught in the public schools, I often heard children and parents use the idiom, "Mamma don't play." It often came up in the context of parent teacher conferences. If I addressed a concern, often the mother would say to the child, "You're going to straighten up . . . and you know Mamma don't play." If it was true, that Mom's word meant business, then one mention at a parent teacher conference was all that was needed to change a behavior.

Although I don't use the same idiom with Elisabeth, I think that I want to embody it: Daddy don't play. I want Elisabeth to know that my word means business, and that I don't need to speak twice. (If we were still living where Elisabeth was born, I probably would use it, because she would hear it on the street, and it would be meaningful to her.)