Here is a word that I've used for a long time. When you wash dishes in the sink and drain the water, the bits of food left in the strainer are snargles.

In our family, this aggregate substance was referred to as "detritus" but yours is good, too.

We call it "grmph", but I sure wish I came from a family that would call it "detritus."

I feel deprived. My family has the modern convenience of owning a dish washer so I don't get to make up a word.

We always called it "gunge". And we still get it - JazzO obviously never has to clean out the dishwasher waste water filter. He obviously has parents who shelter him from some of the dingy corners of everyday reality. I'm envious!

"I sure wish I came from a family that would call it 'detritus'."

This is not an attitude necessarily shared by my children. They were raised on good literature from a tender age, taught to speak several languages before they matriculated, ate at a dining room table where there was a dictionary at hand every night, were dragged to classical theatre, and challenged to write well, and complained bitterly when they were around 16 "Why did you make us different from everybody else?" Why indeed.

And how old are the kiddies now Father Steve? I notice that kids will complain bitterly at 16 and thank profusely at 21.

The kids are now 21 and 23, both university students. One intends to do a masters at the University of Utrecht and a PhD at Oxford. The other is enjoying himself dividing his "spare" time between song writing and performance, working at a computer-related job and doing a shift at a public radio station. And you are correct: they are both now remarkably appreciative of their upbringing. Go figure.

But I bet it wasn't an easy option for you to "enforce" a structured upbringing on your kids. I remember that although prescription was pretty much non-existent in terms of actual content, my parents ensured that we were exposed to all the "goodies". And yes, we were appreciative after the event.

But my mother used to say that it would have been much easier (and might have been preferable) to let us "hang as we grew".

Out of interest, why the University of Utrecht?

Maybe jazz is not sheltered-- in the past 10 year, almost all american dishwasher have built in self cleaning filters-- so i have never had to clean a filter in my dishwasher.

Now in my first house, we had a sump pump-- and it had a filter..

Even though i was the "handi man" about the house--(my ex husband was defined as not knowing the working end of screwdriver by his engineer father), I very quickly figured out that i would never be able to clean the filter on the sump pump... No matter how many times my ex tried to show me how easy it was, i could never quite get the hang of it-- and i always let him do it..

I tend to specialize in supply side plumbing, and hire out waste side plumbing work.. (which is how i know that plumbers don't have to be able to lead work any more-- i had a "Wiped lead" joint that failed in a waste pipe-- i ended up redoing the entire bath-- since i had to replace the waste pipe right into the stack-- and even cut into the stack to fit in a new joint-- I did none of the work--waste side plumbing! but oh did i pay!) So jazz might not be spoiled-- but smart--wait! there is no "might be" -- Jazz is certainly clever enough to avoid it, if he wanted to.!

I have had similar experiences with my sons. Of course, we all know about Mark Twain's observation on the relative learning abilities of parents and children. I have 3 sons, now 36, 32 and 28. About the time the youngest got to about 20, I suddenly realized that they had all metamorphosed from sullen, rebellious, and generally enraging little wretches whom I wanted, at various times, to kill, or at least sell into slavery, into normal human beings with whom it was actualy possible to have an adult conversation. Within a year or two, we all actually became friends. Now I'm thinking that some day I may have to apologize for some of the ways I disciplined them, but maybe not; those methods seem to have worked, although if I used them today I would be locked up.

My sister, who has reason to know, insists that all boys should be shoved into a barrel at five years of age and fed through the bunghole until they're 25 ...

>>>My sister, who has reason to know, insists that all boys should be shoved into a barrel at five years of age and fed through the bunghole until they're 25 ...<<<

by this reasoning, my husband and brother, both of whom are exceptional human beings, should be in boxes right now. me as well, if you count girls. i can't say for my husband, since i met him when we were both 19, but my brother developed into his wonderful self around 18 (about the time he graduated highschool, met the girl he dated for years, started college, and got a somewhat regular job.)

Well, being one myself, I find it hard to agree with her either!

Being the father of sons only, I don't have any experience with raising daughters. But from what I know about young females in contemporary culture, I can tell you that if I should somehow become the father of a girl-child, she would be locked in the cellar on her 11th birthday and let out on her 21st.