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?

Crud. You FINALLY post after more than a year and the link leads to…

The requested URL /thoughts/2005/072004/07142004.html was not found on this server

(sob)

1. When I asked my shrink to suggest a good child psychologist he pulled out the Yellow Pages :/

2. While driving to my doctor’s appointment I saw the porta-potties in the corner of police headquarters’ parking lot — on fire.

3. My daughter begged me to quit my very keen job to tend horses on a ranch so that she could hang out with the animals.

That last one isn’t so odd — picturing me and my manicure bailing hay, now, that was odd.