But who cares? Limericks are fun, and nobody's really 'normal' anyway
There once was a family of nerds
Who discovered a new love of verse.
And in between bites
During dinner some nights,
They humorously rhymed out their words.
“You realize you guys are raising nerds, right?”
I grinned. It wasn’t meant as an insult, and I knew it.
My coworker (for those who read The Herald News: The esteemed Mr. Kevin P. O’Connor himself, who suffers through my incessant ramblings during the early morning shift, poor guy) was merely observing that my family’s choice in activities may sometimes lean a little heavily into the nerd-ish category.
I’m OK with this. Everybody needs a little nerd in their life.
It’s like when my 6-year-old stepdaughter finds occasion to remind me that I’m weird.
“Yep, I am!” I grin back. “And so are you! And so is everyone else. Nobody’s ‘normal,’ kid.”
That’s what I tell her, because that’s what I believe. “Normal” and “cool” are just values we assign to an ideal, but nobody fits those stereotypes perfectly.
And that’s why I have no shame when the kids and their dad and I have a nerdy moment. Because chances are, it’ll actually be better for their brains than doing something “cool” like playing video games.
Case in point: Limericks.
We were sitting around the dinner table one night, and my stepdaughter came up with an idea: She asked if we could go around the table and each make up a song.
It was an interesting concept. I had a feeling we were about to be serenaded with a ballad about a cat named Floof McLaughlin in our near future.
But the idea evolved. Now instead of each of us concocting our own lyrical performance, it would be a group endeavor: One person would start a sentence, and each of us that followed had to contribute a rhyming line.
But that wasn’t the end of the evolution. When it was my husband’s turn, he dove into two lines, instead of one.
Suddenly, we found ourselves smack-dab in limerick land.
Rhymes whizzed around the room as we each jumped in with new and ridiculous concoctions, helping each other and coming up with our own. My stepson, who’s 10, caught on right away, and even though my stepdaughter didn’t quite understand the format we were using, she played along too, and loved it.
The limericks came hard and came fast.
It was tough, but they were up to the task.
They made rhymes about art,
Floof McLaughlin – and farts,
Because they’re kids and that stuff makes them laugh.
Since that night, both kids have asked to play the limerick game a bunch of times, and we’re more than happy to accommodate. Heck, it’s fun. As a bonus, it’s creative and interactive. There’s really no downside to this.
I mean, sure, maybe it is a little nerdy. But really – so what?
Bring on the weird. Because nobody’s “normal.”
Rhyming couplets flashed ‘round through the air,
Spinning outrageous yarns without care.
They each took a turn
As creativity burned –
They’ll try again tomorrow if they dare.
Email Emely Varosky at evarosky@heraldnews.com.