Memory Lane

There are certain phrases that I believe were used uniquely in my house. The distinction between “good cereal” and “bad cereal” has nothing to do with name brands. “Good cereal” is any cereal that doesn’t have a whole lot of sugar. “Bad cereal” is the kind that has lots of sugar. We usually had to eat a bowl of good if we wanted a bowl of bad. So basically, at a young age our parents taught us the importance of chasers, as we chased a bowl of Cheerios with a bowl of Golden Grahams.

One of the joys of being a real adult is making decisions about how to spend your money. My brothers and I all talk about how nice it is to have socks and underwear without holes and bath towels that cover our bodies and are actually absorbent. Kev insists that one of the best things his wife ever did for him was buy him 20 pairs of identical black socks – that way his socks always match and he never has to worry or think about it.

As youngsters, I’m pretty sure that my brothers had at least 20 pairs of white athletic socks that were all the same – I guess like tube socks, with no distinct heel. They also had an additional 5 or 6 pairs that were a little fancier and they were referred to as “smart socks.” On these socks, the heel was defined, and thus, you had to be smart when you put them on. I think about that every day when I put my smart socks on in the morning and it still cracks me up that our family calls heeled socks smart socks. The only time as an adult that I have worn socks that were not of the smart variety was when I played football and softball and wore the uniform socks. What does that say about athletes?

When I was in 8th grade, I remember one of my teachers saying that we should reread our favorite books as adults. She insisted that we would take something additional away with each additional reading. I’ve found the same to be true for the movie Clueless. I’m pretty sure I liked it when it came out when I was a young teen. I’ve watched it a couple times as an adult and I keep catching new lines from it that crack me up. So much of it went over my head when I was younger! My new favorite line is when all the high school girls are standing in line on the tennis courts for gym class, tennis racquets in hand, and the snobby Amber says, “My plastic surgeon doesn’t want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose.” The cool Dionne replies, “Well, there goes your social life.” Hilarious!