Tag: Cliches
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How to Help Your Kids Find Suitable Spouses
“Mommy, I’m going to marry you when I grow up!” My three-year-old son blurted out this declaration one night during his bedtime routine. “Silly boy,” I said. “I’m already married to Daddy.” I went on to explain that God had someone else in mind for him. “Someday you will meet a girl who you will…
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If My Nest is Empty, Why is My Basement Still Full?
With both our kids married and living in their own homes, my husband and I have officially joined the ranks of “empty nesters.” Can I just say I’m not sold on this label? I understand the reference; fledglings venturing out in independence, leaving Mom and Dad Bird with no one in the nest to nurture. …
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Build a Better Fly Swatter
I don’t need a better mousetrap Build a better mousetrap and the world might beat a path to your door, but I won’t be leading that charge. I don’t need a better mousetrap (I have cats). I do need a better fly swatter. Because I can’t swat a fly to save my life. Instead, my…
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Playing Possum and Other Myths of the Animal Kingdom
Playing possum isn’t playing at all I saw an opossum in the road the other day, but didn’t know if it was dead or just “playing possum.” When I drove by the following day and saw it holding the same pose, I knew it wasn’t practicing its thespian skills. Playing possum does not work if…
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Like the Back of My Hand
How well do you really know the back of your hand? I know a lot of things about my husband after 31 years of marriage. You might say I know him like the back of my hand. But apparently, one thing I don’t know about him is actually… the back of his hand. We…
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Worth the Wait
Good things come to those who wait. The moment we have been waiting for has arrived: our local grocery store is now carrying orange flesh melons. We heard about these mouth-watering little beauties from a client last summer and quickly became addicted. The outside looks like honeydew, the inside resembles cantaloupe, and the sweet taste…
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Platitudes Top the List of Pet Peeves
Everybody has pet peeves. As a writer, banal platitudes top my list. After chatting about our busy schedules, an acquaintance recently admonished me to “stop and smell the roses.” While I appreciated the sentiment, deep in my wordsmith’s soul I couldn’t help cringing at that unimaginative cliché. The English language holds a wealth of…
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Think Outside the Mailbox
Whoever said, “You can’t put a square peg in a round hole” obviously never met my mailman. Writers who use clichés are like street punks who use four-letter words. They lack the imagination to be original and are too lazy to be creative. Ironically, writers must “think outside the box” to avoid producing clichéd…