The Riddler

Italian family dinners are full of wonderful ingredients, conversation and memories.

Ours are just great, but we have one thing that other Italian dinners don't have.  We have The Riddler.

Who is that?  She is none other than our oldest daughter who, when we least expect it, pulls out one of her Riddle Books or Joke Books and begins to grill everyone at the dinner table for answers.

And by everyone that means aunts, uncles, cousins, parents and sister.

When did this begin?  She's done it for years.  A kind of talent that shows both that she is an extremely well-spoken young woman, but she is also quite a wise guy.  I mean wise-gal. 


And, she generally waits until everyone has had too much food and way too much wine and then she begins her inquisition.  It's like she knows when everyone is weak and can't fight back.  She goes for our achilles heel.

She can be relentless, like "What is the best day of the week to eat eggs?" (Fry Day)(1). Absolutely no one will get that and she knows it.

Or, what do you call a sleeping cow with horns? (Bull Dozer)(1).  Maybe someone will get that one.

And of course, the Knock-Knock jokes such as:
  Knock-knock
  Who's there?
  Dishes
  Dishes who?
  Dishes mission control speaking.(2)

I should mention that we are all more than happy to roll our eyes, shake our heads in disbelief and sit through the dumbest riddles anyone has ever heard. Laughter is, of course, the best medicine.  And, when she brings her joke book to the table, and our Riddler takes the stage, we know she is having a very good day, or in the case of this day, a few good hours in between the seizures, the anxiety and the tears.


References:
1-Greatest Jokes on Earth (Matt Rissinger & Philip Yates; Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. NY)
2-Ridiculous Riddles (Chris Tait;  Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. NY)