family | Mostly Bright Ideas

Browsing All posts tagged under »family«

The Continental Blogging Award

June 30, 2012

I was recently given the Versatile Blogger award by Anxiety Adventures, as well as Tammy at Most Likely To Marry; about a month ago Allan of Simple Life Prattle sent me the One Lovely Blog award. These distinctions are unusual. It’s possible that a teacher once called me versatile, but I wouldn’t swear to it. […]

Our Cats Ate Spaghetti

February 28, 2012

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I grew up in an Italian household. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, but I also had no choice in the matter. Everyone in the family was Italian. Even the pets. When I was very little, my grandmother had two parakeets that would fly from their open cage to perch on her fingers […]

Across A Crowded Womb (Part 2)

February 16, 2012

I’ve recently been reminded that back in my very earliest days, I was both a sperm and an egg. I had forgotten that small detail, but I don’t feel too bad about it, because it’s something most men have difficulty comprehending. We have a hard enough time interpreting road signs that say “No Turn On […]

On the Eve of Greatness

January 19, 2012

I don’t write about music, mostly because I don’t know anything about music. I can’t sing, don’t play an instrument, and couldn’t explain the difference between melody and harmony, even on an open-book test. I’m lucky if I can figure out how to turn on the radio. Once in a while I find myself reading […]

Ghosts of Christmas Past

December 23, 2011

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One Christmas Eve in the early 1960s, my mother told me to go to bed, because Santa Claus wouldn’t come to homes where the children were still awake. This made sense to me. What made no sense, although I didn’t give it any thought at the time, was that the Christmas tree was set up […]

Don’t Ask, Don’t Yell

September 30, 2011

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As a young adult, I once heard someone say that “there’s no such thing as a stupid question.” This came as a great surprise to me, because not so many years earlier, stupid questions had been quite common. In fact, my parents had pretty much convinced me that I was a natural spring of inane […]

Winter’s Thaw

September 21, 2011

My good friend and blogging buddy, Priya, recently sent me the beginning of a story she wanted to write. She asked me to add a few paragraphs, then send it back to her. The idea was that we would continue taking turns extending the story until it was finished, like a single plant growing from […]

Arrivals and Departures

May 4, 2011

I didn’t bother to check the gas gauge. The tank was full. It had to be. Everybody knows that when you rent a car, you pick it up with a full tank and you return it the same way. Besides, there had been some confusion at the customer service counter. I’d paid for a compact […]

What I Needed To Hear

April 15, 2011

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Grown-ups say a lot of things to children. Mostly they make decisions, give orders, and plead for their sanity with statements like, “Not now” and “Put that down!” and “Will you please be quiet? I can’t hear myself think!” Such clear interaction allows the child to grasp the intended meaning quickly and move on to […]

Role Models (Part 1)

March 14, 2011

I couldn’t wait to grow up. I had things to do, big, important things, and when you’re five years old there are a lot of regulations holding you back. For one thing, there was bedtime, an annoying restriction that did nothing but convince me that the really great stuff all happened after I went to […]