Words to live down

 In a movie or television show when a fatherly type sits knee to knee with a younger character and imparts words to live by. Not my family. They had plenty to say, but I can’t remember anyone sharing their philosophy of life or offering any thoughts to steer me on the right path.

          And yet, we're still tossing around things some of us have said over the years.

         

          Their parents away, My Guy and I were watching the three grandsons, at the time ages 10 and downwards.  An action movie appeared on the tv screen and we started to change the channel. One of the boys turned to us and said earnestly, “It’s okay. We like violence.”

 

          The parents on the other side of the family were also away one weekend and the twin granddaughters (famously picky eaters) were visiting. Presented with an item we’d been assured they would eat, they exchanged that silent twin look and one of them said: “Thank you, but we only eat that at home.”

 

          My daughter had been known to complain as only a 10 year-old can when asked to come out and help rake the mountains of leaves in our yard. But one day in an expansive mood she said to my mother-in-law: “I’ll come and help you rake, Grandma. You can call me anytime.” (Major eye-rolling by Mom and Dad in the background.)

 

          My husband, after part of a shed we were dismantling fell on my head, said: “Why does everything happen to me?”

 

          Our son, every inch a typical 8 year-old, when we received a mailing from Sharper Image or possibly Radio Shack filled with things like walkie-talkies and pen with disappearing ink exclaimed: “I can be a spy! I’ve got the catalogue!”

 

          Or me in a particularly air-headed moment when I said about our daughter, “I hope she never has an older sister like I did.”