8 • November 2015 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. Parents Have Their Own Language by Gabriel A. Fraire ~ gafraire@comcast.net


Healdsburg, CA. ~ Married couples have their own code signals and language. And couples who are married and have children, not only speak in code but in fragmented sen- tences.


It will drive a non-parent nuts trying. . . “What? Okay, they’re in the drawer next to your socks.”. . . trying to talk to a parent. Non-par- ents are used to starting a sentence and then speaking


...pretty good at fragmented conversations.


it though to conclusion. Par- ents know better. I think the last time I started and fi n- ished a comment to my wife, that wasn’t interrupted by a child, a poor man could still become president. My wife and I have become... “Okay, so it’s not in the drawer, look in the closet and quit yelling.”


I’m not sure how this skill of fragmented conversations was developed or even when it was developed. I think it’s just one of those things you acquire with- out ever noticing, like crow’s feet around the eyes. One day you look in the mirror and they are there. You don’t remember seeing them be- fore but they must have been there.


so good at fragmented discus- sions we can go days before fi nishing a sentence and the other still knows what we’re talking about.


My wife and I have become


wait a minute and I’ll get them for you.” ...and diffi cult day Mom reminded me we were to dine with parents of one of our daughter’s friends. I asked my wife if there was any way I could weasel out of the dinner engagement. She just looked at me. There are times when no words are needed.


LDER ISDOM ... continued from page 6


Among parents non lan- guage is the best communica- tion. One time, during an ex- ceptionally long... “All right,


These columns are excerpts from the book Daddy I Need to Go Potty by Gabriel A. Fraire. Fraire has been a writer more than 40 years and is the current Literary Laure- ate of Healdsburg. He can be reached through his website: gabrielfraire.com


nior apartment at what is now Brookdale Chanate. Speak- ing of roots, Gladys has been a member of the Santa Rosa Garden Club since shortly af- ter their arrival in Santa Rosa, participated in numerous Rose Parades, and still has a green thumb! She also celebrated 55 years of active membership in the Welfare League in April of this year. The Welfare League opened its thrift shop on 4th Street in 1939 to provide funds to help Sonoma County fami- lies, and operates various com- munity service programs. She still works in the thrift shop, but now only in the back room. Gladys is also a proud mem- ber of Native Daughters, and as president some years back she was able to travel throughout the state. Over the years, she’s noticed that people seem less


... continued on page 16 Weird Facts & Fun Trivia - 3


U.S. president Millard Fillmore (1850-1853) and his wife Abigail installed the fi rst cooking stove in the White House, and the White House cooks quit in protest. Fillmore had to get an expert in to show the cooks how to regu- late the heat on the stove before the cooks would return to work. (Before this, all cooking had been done in a fi replace).


Henry Tate, an English sugar merchant, patented a method of cutting sugar into small cubes in 1872. He made a fortune.


English Table Manners in the mid-15th century: Men wore their hats at the table to keep their long hair out of the food. Guests brought their own knives, and food was eaten the fi ngers. Forks were used for cooking and sometimes for serving, not for eating food - it wasn’t until about 1465 that forks began the transition to an eating utensil.


Rebekah Roberts


Waxings, Facials & More!! 1410 Guerneville Rd. Ste 2 Santa Rosa, CA ~ 95403 (707) 541-6189


www.RebekahRoberts707.com 8 • November 2015 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. ~Henry Ford


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