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Dadisms I have always wanted to create a "Dadisms" page. But first I had to convince myself that I was quotable enough to deserve one. And since it's my site, the answer is yes. So, these are expressions I use or have used on some sort of regular basis, most of which have something to do with raisng a family. Some are "borrowed" from elsewhere, and those sources can be thanked or blamed, your choice. "I never let a lady drink alone." First spoken when I was out to lunch with a client project team. Lunch included a choice of a glass of wine or an appetizer. As the waitress moved around the table taking orders, everyone ordered the appetizer. The lady next to me whispered that she would really rather have the wine, but didn't want to be the only one ordering a drink. I replied she should get the wine and I, ordering immediately after her, would take care of the rest. She ordered her wine, and with this quote, I did too. "They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint." Not really a dadism in the sense of the family thinking "Yeah, Dad always says that." It's actually from the Bible, Isaiah 40:31, but I first saw it on a poster of a long distance runner, with the open road ahead of him, and just loved the image. My daughter has now adopted this quote as her IM away message when going for a jog, so maybe it now does qualify as a dadism. "I play the stereo." My family is very musically talented. Each plays at least one instrument. However I have no musical ability whatsoever. So when the question is directed to me, as it often is, "And what do you play?", this is my answer. "The 'where to find the body' call" Really a 'momism.' It's a popular request from parent to child, "Give me a call when you get there" or "Let me know where you will be" or even "Call me if you'll be somewhere else." For our family, it has become the 'where to find the body' call, so when whatever terrible thing happens (just in case you're dead in a ditch somewhere), we know where to find the body. Morbid humor perhaps, but they remember to call. My lovely daughter has begun to call this the NDND call...Not Dead, No Ditch. "How does it feel to want?" First heard from Cousin Lonnie at a family gathering. One of his daughters, quite young at the time, had a bad case of the "I wants." Lonnie's answer was a classic, "How does it feel to want?', which resulted in stunned silence from his daughter and hysterics from the parents in the room. "Thank you, it's a gift." The answer to statements like "My friends say you're intimidating" or "You're mean!" "Babies bounce!" My own creation, making the point that kids are tougher than you think they are, especially if you don't make a big deal about the event. The birth of the quote happened while I was working as a lifeguard at a pool. I was playing with a toddler who was a frequent visitor. I went to pick her up, my hand slipped, and her head hit the cement pool deck. Before she could realize how much it hurt and start to wail, I scooped her up, spun around with her in the air, saying "Hey look, babies bounce!" The stunned look gave way to giggles, and all was well with the world. "Leap, and the net will appear." I told a friend of mine who left the consulting business that I often think of what I do (run a small consulting business) in terms of something I read in Jimmy Buffett’s book “A Salty Piece of Land.” The title of the chapter was “Leap, and the net will appear.” (As far as I can tell, the quote is actually by John Burroughs, a naturalist and essayist.) Making sure that net is there sure takes a lot of work though. "What part of NO don't you understand?" Obviously I was not the first to use this phrase, but my mother-in-law heard me use it often enough with the kids to give me a framed version of it. "Good things happen to good kids" I am sure this would elicit the bored eye roll if you bounced this off my kids today. I used to trot it out when something positive happened as a result of just the every day act of being a good kid...polite, honest, doing the right thing, etc. And I occasionally used the companion statement, that those same good things don't happen to kids who aren't so good. "I hope they will support me in the manner to which I wish to become accustomed" In answer to the various versions of the question of what my goals are for my kids. "As long as they don't become ax murderers" With an acknowledgement to Lizzie Borden, another answer to the various versions of the question of what my goals are for my kids. "Truth is time and viewpoint dependent" A statement about the nature of truth, that it is not always absolute. What is called truth can change over time, as we learn more about the topic at hand. And what is termed the truth changes based on the frame of reference...Republican versus Democrat, Christian versus atheist versus agnostic, rich versus poor, etc. "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" Specifically in reference to the Palestinian / Israeli conflict, somewhat of a corollary to "Truth is time and viewpoint dependent." I don't remember hearing this from anywhere before I used it, but I assume I did, as it seems to be in common use. I find it harder to personally reconcile this today, in that the statement implies a specific cause in which the freedom fighter / terrorist believes. The causes have become less clear, and actions seem to be no longer the means to an end, but the end in and of themselves. |
Links Matt Brown (old time fiddle music)
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