Lady Webster (Again)

I must find a new title for my mother. We've always called her "Lady Webster" but I am becoming her so maybe she'll become "Queen Webster."

She has a command of the English language like no one you know (with the possible exception of English professors.) Just possible ...

I spent my entire childhood learning the proper way to say things, finding the proper words and being told, "Look it up." A habit that continues to this day.

My parents sent me to college. I earned a degree in journalism. Not bragging, just a life experience. My mother can run circles around me in the proper use of any comma, any hyphen or the difference between sit/set, lay/lie. Sometimes she will ask me, "Is that the word you really meant to use?" They could've saved a lot of money on college and I could've camped at her feet.

So here I go down that slippery slope. Girlfriends will be trying to tell an interesting or horrific story (usually about an oldie) and some look will cross my face. And they ask, "Is that the wrong word?" I'm surprised they don't just run. The baby often looks at me like I have a mental illness.

Often, I take a deep breath and let it go. To some, it's insulting to be corrected.

I love to be corrected. I am 44-years old and my mother still gives me little grammar and punctuation tips. She tells me to write it down and I do. Forget gifts -- this makes me giddy. We could probably spend endless days on a deserted island. We would take our dictionaries and diagram sentences and forget to make that "HELP" sign out of twigs.

Corrections and Clarifications

I enjoy being corrected. No one likes hearing that they've made a mistake but I get over it quickly. I'm used to it. I've had it thumped into me from a very young age. My mother has a great command of the English language -- one of her friends used to call her "Lady Webster" -- and she knows all of the grammar and punctuation rules.

Think of this as page 2 of the newspaper. That's where they fess up to mistakes but they put it in teeny type.

For the record:
In the posting, "A Motherless Boy," I meant to use the word paternal instead of fraternal. I'm pretty sure my grandmother did not belong to a community of brothers.

In the posting, "Endearments," there's a comment about the stupid pillow with the Honey expression. Yes, my parents did buy it for the oldies.

I'm sure there are other areas with errors. I'll check with Lady Webster and try to get it right in the future.