When I was a girl…some thirty years ago…
My parents did everything in their power to provide my two younger brothers and me with a solid upbringing.
They saw after our grooming
They helped us with our homework
They fed us three square meals a day
But I digress.
And, of course, there were household rules by which we three had to abide.
You know…the basics:
Respect your elders…
No hitting…
And…umm…No quoting at the table.
You see, having been born in the 1970′s, we were First Generation VHS Kids. We watched movies and television during an era when on-demand repetition of worthy clips was a shiny new concept. We would press that rewind button ad nauseum, watching favorite snippets in reverse before viewing them again…and again…and again…
And yet again…
Until we had committed them to memory and could recite them at the smallest prompting. Which, incidentally, was usually at the dinner table.
Much to the dismay of our parents, who did not share our affinity for ad nauseum movie quoting.
The table was where we gathered to nourish our bodies, exchange ideas, and bow our heads together in gratitude for our blessings.
Quoting matches had no place in this family portrait. Especially on Thanksgiving.
And now…now that I am a grown-up with children of my own…
I have the same rule: No quoting at the table. I mean, really…who needs to hear, a thousand times over, some annoying quip first heard on Cartoon Network?
Unless, of course, the quote in question happens to be from one of my favorite quotable films or shows from yesteryear…a belly-laugh inducing quote that I, personally, have introduced to my children via the magic of oral tradition and YouTube.
In that case? I applaud The Cherubs and enthusiastically help them fill in the blanks where they stumble.
Call it a tradition of sorts. Their collective repertoire includes, but is certainly not limited to:
click images for sources
I like it. I like it a LOT.
Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!
I don’t wanna be a pirate!
Dad is great…Gave us the choc-late cake!
Abe Froman? The sausage king of Chicago?
You can’t HANDLE the truth!
I could go on. But I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner.
And as certain as I am that the smoke alarm will announce supper
I am just as certain that there will be an abundance of vintage screenplay quips peppering our conversation.
So today, in addition to counting my blessings of faith and good health, of family and friends…I am especially thankful for the gift of laughter shared between generations, and the fact that there is never a shortage of it around my dinner table.
Inspired by a prompt from
So funny! I was given the unique ability to remember movie/tv quotes and trivia. Call it a blessing, call it a curse but m’cranium is filled with (some say) useless facts.
Now that my small humans are older I will test them by saying a movie/TV quote and they will name off the movie and/or character who said it. They are really good at it too. Brings a tear to my eye. My husband? Sadly, I gave up on him long ago. I quoted from The Breakfast Club two days ago and he couldn’t get it. Thank God he’s cute.
.
Now, the one thing my husband can quote is any line from comedian Bill Engvall. That man makes both of us giggle out loud. “Whenever you’re feeling bad just go to a state fair and look around. There are people there that could be their own dad.” Love him! But I digress …. wishing you and enjoyable Thanksgiving filled with loads of turkey and laughs. Happy turkey day!
Thanks, Laurie…Happy Thanksgiving to you, too. Isn’t it grand to know that we’re raising these kids right?
Then you would definitely pull your hair out if you sat in on our Thanksgiving table. Seriously we are the kings and queens of quotes….it’s borderline insanity that we can retain that information.
Happy thanksgiving1!! xo
Is it PC to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving back? And – for the record – I’d welcome you and your quoting crew to my table anytime.
I know so many quotes from Sex and The City, it’s almost embarrassing.
Happy Thanksgiving! xo
It’s an art form, I believe. Truly.
Ah yes. I cannot chastise my little ones and end the sentence with “I mean it!”
Because it is sure to be followed with (even if it’s only in my own head) “Anybody want a peanut?”
Have a lovely, wacky Thanksgiving!
Yes! I do the peanut thing, too!
LOVE the Chocolate cake one. That one gets quoted a lot in the house I grew up in. My favorite from Dumb and Dumber…”What’s the soup de jour? Its the soup of the day. Mmmm that sounds good. I’ll have that.”
We love to quote…
Happy thanksgiving!!!
The Cherubs know that one, too, Thea.
Happy Thanksgiving!
We are a quoting family, too. (I never thought of it as a generation of VHS Kids thing, but I do believe you may have a point.) How wonderful to share laughter – from quotes or other – around the table. That is the best! Happy Thanksgiving!
Kim – Thanks for stopping by! I agree…laughter is a must at the table. Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!
That was a different twist on thank-ful-ness. Reciting quotes… what a fun tradition. Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s more of a daily occurrence than a tradition….and Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
I love the Bill Cosby one! That’s one of my favorite routines.
I heart Bill. End o’ story, Leigh Ann.
Our fave quote from our carefree 80s kid days: “Ewwwww….”a la Ernest P. Worrell.
Super funny post!
Love it, Nic!
awesome – haha
I love quotes – although we don’t do them much. My favorite it “We all Thaw you , you thilly man”, from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I saw that a lot to my kids AND husband.
Heh. My Cherubs love the Knights who say Ni bit.
Hi Sue, I’m Anne from Life on the Funny Farm (http://annesfunnyfarm.blogspot.com), and I’m visiting from Finding the Funny.
“I don’t know what to do with my hands.” Just sayin’.
If you’ve never visited yet, I hope you can pop by my blog sometime to say hi!
Heh. Nice to meet you, Anne…on my way to your place!
All our quotes are from The Regular Show (cartoon that teen boys love. And me.)
Hope you had a great time and I wish many golden sparkly pinecones your way.
xo
Thanks for being a doll.
Laughter at a family gathering really draws everyone together.