I don’t know what got into me last night – maybe I’d been working at the computer too long and had come down with some sort of writer’s delirium, but I was feeling terribly silly when my teenaged daughter arrived home from school. My husband chalked it up to female hormones gone wild – and he may have been right. But no matter the cause, my silliness brought out the silliness in my daughter!

First, I started butchering Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” – singing painfully loud and off key. I was dramatically emphasizing the long notes while I stirred my chicken stew at the stove. You see, I think this song is awful – sorry Alicia fans – and I know it’s not going away any time soon. Every now and then I react this way to a pop song that is played over and over again (I know, stop listening to the pop stations!) and I just have to sing it out to get rid of the ear worms. My last violent reaction to a pop song was when Celion Dion sang “Titanic.” Yuk!

So, my daughter starts chiming in on the song: “This girl is on FIAAAAAAAA. This girl is on FIAAAAAAAA-AAAA-AA!” You get the idea. She’s doing her homework at the kitchen counter and starts to read her French homework out loud, very loud, and it’s very entertaining.

Before you know it, I’m making up a song about stirring my stew: “and now I want to sit down and rest. It really might be best to give my feet a rest!” Great stuff, right? At that moment I tell my daughter she’ll always remember this night. Every time we hear that “Girl on Fire” song – we’ll remember our crazy night in the kitchen - and we have Alicia Keys to thank!

Thanks Alicia. Now please write a new song!