If you are one of those mothers who has a longing to be “the ultimate maternal figure,” you will surely find the pathway in “Some Day You’ll Thank Me For This: The Official Southern Ladies’ Guide to Being a Perfect Mother.”

It’s the latest book from authors Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays, and it is a book sure to make you smile, if not laugh out loud, particularly if you (or you have friends who) grew up in the Mississippi Delta. Mothers there, make no mistake, were born with one task in mind — to pass on to their daughters exactly how to become ‘the ultimate-maternal figure.”

Metcalfe will be in Vicksburg May 6 with their newest book at Lorelei Book Store, 1103 Washington St., and the public is invited to meet the author from 12 – 2p.m.

A unique credo

Mothers the world over can learn how to be the ultimate maternal figure with the new book in hand from Hyperion Books, a moving and cheeky compendium of motherhood Southern style. As the authors reveal, mothers who hail from below the Mason-Dixon Line have their own unique credo to which they adhere at all costs. The way they see it, their most important goals in life are to raise ladies and gentlemen, drill an intimate knowledge of the family tree into their progeny’s heads, and make sure they pass on their silver to only the most deserving of their offspring.

Tidbits from the book

* Take the initiative to help pick your daughter’s husband, silver pattern, nanny, honeymoon destination—at her birth.

* You believe it’s better to get an A in deportment rather than French.

* “We don’t need to go into that” is the Southern mother’s response to any unpleasantness.

* The Southern mother will monogram anything that doesn’t fight back.

* A Southern daughter always finds that she had ended up doing exactly what Mama wants her to do in the first place.

* You run into a friend and the first words out of your mouth are “How’s yo mo-thur?”