I used to be the only kid at dinner parties in a house with:

• Long, dark wood tables
• A table centerpiece made of glass that was full to the brim with tennis balls
• A refrigerator with a photo of young Bill Clinton in denim cut-offs juxtaposed with a picture of Geroge Bush's head growing out of a Texan tobacco plant
• A bedroom with white walls and a fireplace framed with painted ceramic tiles
• A porch with a long drop-off
• Tenuous inhabitants who started their own business and never had kids
• Salad bowls made of carved wood
• A faded gold handle which led to a hidden bathroom under the dark wood stairs. The bathroom had a blue and white painted Portuguese ceramic bowl for a sink
• A neighbor who owned a children's store where I helped for a day

I didnt't really think much of it all then, but it came to mind again.