Melamine has come a long way since my sister bought some of it when she first married. Until she acquired it I had no idea it existed.

We were brought up on Noritake fine china so my household was always a haven for good plates. Stoneware or tinted glass plates for every day dining, china for those special occasions. I wasn’t as anal about my glassware, though I collected lead crystal wine glasses — bought a couple sets from Tracy in her Princess House days. I remember being anal about my silverware. Not sure I cared about pots and pans because I rarely felt the urge to cook.

Anyway, after my sister’s melamine days I didn’t see the stuff again until I had Cyd. Suddenly there was all this fabulous, indestructible, Disney-decorated tableware for the under-seven set. I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough of it. Plates, flatware, tumblers, mugs…you name it, it was melamine. But it was for the child (or the sillier me who got Hawaiian-decorated melamine serving sets for my sister’s Christmas present).

I still ate off the stoneware and the fine china. Tut, tut.

Today I bought the most incredible set of melamine bowls. They look like raku-fired pottery. I had to ask what they were made of, they looked that good. The price…cheap! The look…priceless!

Am I a late bloomer or what?