...Never Underestimate The Power of Imagination...

I honestly can't remember on what blog I read this - but it's an interesting study in the old cliches that we use every day and think are familiar. Typically, this is given to first graders, or little kids..... well since I'm fresh outta little kids, I thought I'd give it to my teenagers and see what came of it.

After dinner, when everyone had retreated to their respective TVs, iPods, and computer screens, I handed the sheet of paper I'd printed out to Tessie and Bear and asked them to fill in the blanks. Of course, never wanting to exclude anyone, I also gave one to Downtown Dad. Being the serious sort of guy he is, I expected his to have all the "right" answers. Below are their responses - color coded thusly: Green=Downtown Dad; Pink=Tessie 16; Blue=Bear 14; Black is when all three got the traditional answer....

1. Don’t change horses..... Unless they want you to (spoken like the true veterinarian she'd like to be someday)

2. Strike while the..... Sword is hot (well, really if you think about it - why would you strike someone with an iron anyway?)

3. It’s always darkest before..... Lightest (she is also an artist, therefore thinks in contrasts)

4. Never underestimate the power of..... Dad (that goes without saying)

5. You can lead a horse to water but..... It will still get lost (what?)

6. Don’t bite the hand that..... Feeds you (I'm sure they know this because we say this all the time to our birds - the birds seem to understand it too)

7. No news is..... Good news (that's just boring)

8. A miss is as good as a..... Mrs. who is widowed (ha ha, very funny dear)

9. You can’t teach an old dog new..... Tricks (learned, I assume from owning an old dog)

10. If you lie down with dogs you’ll..... Get bit (he actually did lie down with the dog of a friend once, right by their food dish, got bit too - apparently learned the lesson.)

11. Love all, trust..... No one (that's just sad)

12. The pen is mightier than the..... Sword (can ya tell they all live in a writing and reading family?)

13. An idle mind is..... The mother of dreams (now this just blew me away - that's from Shakespeare!)

14. Where there’s smoke..... There’s Cancer (good girl!)

15. Happy is the bride who..... Married me! (ok, here he is just trying to make up for that widow remark)

16. A penny saved is..... A penny earned (yes, yes, it takes many many pennies to fly to Scotland)

17. Two’s company, three’s..... A party (should I be worried about him?)

18. Don’t put off til tomorrow what..... You can do today (No doubt repeated frequently in this household)

19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and..... You’re sad (Awwww)

20. There are no so blind as..... Three blind mice (OK, but why did they run again?)

21. Children should be seen..... And not heard (I don't know where they learned THAT)

22. If at first you don’t succeed..... Try, try again (Yeop!)

23. You get out of something only what you..... Think (??)

24. When the blind lead the blind..... You’re asking for a traffic jam (how did those blind people get their licenses?)

They run into people (well duh)

They have a fool for a client (I think this is a Heather Mills reference - since the golddigger decided to act as her own attorney in her divorce from Sir Paul... her handicap, besides being insane is that she only has one leg honey, she's not blind - I mean she married Paul McCartney for goodness sake... oh, back to the answers....)

25. A bird in the hand is..... Poop in the palm (Like I said, we have birds)

26. Better late than..... Never (ah, there's relief in that)