MORE FAMILY TALK

Earlier, I wrote about some expressions our family uses to make a point and asked you to share yours. A couple of folks responded with cute stories about their own family sayings. One group blamed everything on the brother away at camp, and the other’s involved the statement No Karate in the kitchen. In both cases, the phrases are still in use. Both made me smile. Thanks for sharing!

I’m happy to say that both boys have grown up to be kind, polite young men!

Someone has two toys entered our vocabulary when some of our very young grandchildren were playing together at a holiday dinner. One particularly impulsive young’un had a habit of grabbing toys away from the other children. I can still see the earnest face of his cousin looking up at me as he tactfully voiced a plea for adult intervention. Now when one of us appears to be hogging something, you’ll hear the other say, Someone has two toys. It’s a great way to make a point without having a row.

•  It’s just right is one of my favorite things to say to people apologizing for what they consider to be disappointing outcomes from their efforts. If the cake was lopsided or the roast not so tender, you could always count on the Dale women to employ the phrase It’s just right – stretching out Juuust for emphasis. Consequently, in our family if you’ve worked hard at something but are a little embarrassed by the results and try to apologize, you are bound to hear someone cut off your apology with the words It’s Just Right! (My cousin, Larry, uses it and my husband, Terry, has taken it up.)

The person I associate most with the phrase is my Aunt Dorothy. She and her sister, Betty, were champions of their nieces and nephews. Memories of her inspired this poem.