simulacrum of life

i used to have this annoying habit when i was younger. i absolutely LOVED to use "and then". it stemmed from my mother's storytelling before i could read by myself. she wanted to be dramatic and read with expressions and all (ie. slowly). i on the other hand was eager to find out what was going to happen next, so whenever there appeared to be the slightest pause in the narration, you could hear me going, "and then?" this habit carried forward to daily life. i was never sure if people had finished with their spiel, whatever it might have been, so i used to go "and then?" during pauses, until they went "no more.. that's it". "and then" moved from being a question to part of my sentences. anytime chronology was involved, EVERY sentence would have "and then" in it. "i went to school in the morning. and then ,i went for assembly. and then, i went to class. and then, i went for recess. and then, i bought my food. and then..." i'm guessing you get the idea. i'm quite surprised that i didn't get slapped for being that annoying. just reading those few sentences makes me wanna slap any kid who speaks like that :P anyways, my mother decided that enough was enough and set about attempting to reform me. i'm quite sure that her methods were painful, since i have absolutely no recollection of how she went about her reformation, which suggests suppressed (ie. painful) memories. but the end result is that i learnt to use other words and phrases in my sentences.

p.s. i also used "after that" interchangeably with "and then".