Perception of a word: cockamamie

Dictionary.com definition of the word cockamamie: ridiculous, pointless, or nonsensical: full of wild schemes and cockamamie ideas.

Until recently I perceived the word cockamamie to be in line with the above definition. I finished the audio book Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox and it made me take another look at this word and through that, another look at my youngest daughter’s early childhood. I loved the book by the way and strongly suggest his first book Lucky Man as well.

In the last chapter of Always Looking Up, Michael J. Fox tells a story of one morning sitting at the breakfast table with his son Sam, 13, while his youngest daughter, Esme, 4, goes back and forth, from room to room, carrying various non-related things and also wearing different accessories to her outfit each time. On the third pass by Michael J. Fox says one word, “Cockamamie?” to which Esme replies, “Cockamamie!”

He goes on to state how his wife and he started labeling Esme’s little creative adventures, ideas and plans this name, cockamamie. As I listened to this chapter I was flooded with memories of my youngest daughter’s escapades between the ages of 3 and 6. Laura used to use 2 modes of travel in our house when she was younger, one was a bouncy ball and the other was a pair of old plastic roller skates. She truly did (and still does) march to the beat of a different drum. That’s what I love about her Read more

Just for fun, remembering childhood joys

As adults, we often get so caught up in “grown up” business that we can forget how to have pure fun. This isn’t the kind of fun that comes from doing a specific kind of activity or being in a specific mood for fun. Rather, this is the fun born from the state of pure being. You see this kind of fun in small children who are so busy being fully present to their lives and in their own bodies that the glow of fun radiates from them just because they are alive: the delight that flashes across the eyes of a child who discovers that water flows with the turn of the tap knob or the squeal of pleasure from a young baby whose tongue is being tickled by cold Read more