Mama had a saying for those moments when things were about to get interesting — and not necessarily in a good way.
“Katie, bar the door!”
She didn’t need a Katie in the house, and nobody actually headed for the door. We knew what she meant: Brace yourself. Trouble is coming.
It was the kind of warning that could cover almost anything. Maybe Daddy was about to discover something we hoped he wouldn’t. Maybe relatives were arriving with enough children to turn the house upside down. Maybe somebody had made a decision that was about to set off a chain reaction.
Whatever was coming, Mama knew it was too late to stop it. Katie just needed to bar the door.
The expression has been around in America since at least the 1800s and became particularly associated with Southern speech. Its exact origin is uncertain. One theory connects it to the old Scottish ballad “Get Up and Bar the Door.” Another links it to Catherine Douglas, who, according to a 15th-century Scottish account, tried to protect King James I by putting her arm through the staples of a door after its locking bar had been removed.
Wherever Katie came from, Southerners knew exactly what she was supposed to do.
The saying also reminds me how previous generations could pack an entire paragraph into five words. Mama didn’t need to explain that consequences were headed our way. “Katie, bar the door” said everything.
There might even be a little wisdom tucked inside the humor.
We spend plenty of time trying to prevent trouble, but life occasionally reaches the point where prevention has left the building. The in-laws are pulling into the driveway. The storm is already rumbling. The children have discovered the finger paints. What happens next is happening.
At that point, you face whatever comes through the door.
Mama might not have called that resilience.
She just called for Katie.
What Mama said: Life lessons you didn’t know you needed—until Mama said them.
Enjoyed this article. Read more What Mama Said… by Susan Espiritu.
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