"You get what you get and you don't get…

“You get what you get and you don’t get upset” is a saying that has been printed on posters and T-shirts. The saying is popular in preschool and is frequently used when the preschoolers object to meal and snack offerings.

It’s not known where the saying originated. “Like my nanny used to say, you get what you get and you don’t get upset” was cited in print in 2002.

The One Ring
Why Frodo Went to Osgiliath! - Peter Jackson’s motives
Jonathan | December 19, 2002
(...)
Like my nanny used to say, you get what you get and you don’t get upset.

Google Groups: rec.music.hip-hop
Pot Luck
purrffecttbliss
7/23/06
“You get what you get and don’t get upset.”

Cupcakes take the cake
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 06, 2006
Our Pinkalicious cupcake interview
(...)
What’s the lesson behind the book?
Pinkalicious teaches children that more is not always better and that moderation is key. The book focuses on desire and discipline, and parents can relate to the mother in the story who tells Pinkalicious, “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”

Twitter
Jude C Divierte
‏@KnightDiver
You get what you get and you don’t get upset.
12:50 AM - 16 Nov 2007

Twitter
Daigo Fujiwara
‏@DaigoFuji
Wisdom from my three year old son (or of his pre-school teachers): “You get what you get and you don’t get upset!”
6:37 PM - 21 Feb 2008

Google Books
Gossip Girl:
It Had to Be You: The Gossip Girl Prequel
By Cecily von Ziegesar
New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company
2007
Pg. ?:
Agatha used to say when she was little and would cry at the sight of peas on her plate, “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”

The Huffington Post
Gretchen Rubin (Writer, The Happiness Project)
Ten Ways To Be A More Light-Hearted Parent
Posted: 05/17/2009 5:12 am EDT Updated: 11/17/2011 9:02 am EST
(...)
You can also use the school mantras: “Sit square in your chair;” “accidents will happen,” “you get what you get, and you don’t get upset” (i.e., when cupcakes are handed out, you don’t keep trying to switch).

Google Books
Mean Moms Rule:
Why Doing the Hard Stuff Now Creates Good Kids Later
By Denise Schipani
Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc.
2012
Pg. ?:
And we’re complaining that we didn’t get the plate we wanted? Recite that old saw from preschool: ‘You get what you get and you don’t get upset.’

Google Books
Never Go Back:
10 Things You’ll Never Do Again
By Henry Cloud
New York,NY: Howard Books
2014
Pg. 73:
They had never learned what my kids learned in preschool: “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”