Camera recommendation?

[doch]

I've had a little bit of time to look at a few cameras on line today, and to be honest, the main reason that I lean towards something that is point and shoot is for simplicity. My wife has a good point and shoot, and I have one that is kind of hit and miss (which makes me question my camera using skills - it's a sony, btw). We already have cameras, and I don't know a whole lot about photography (most of what I read today sounds like german). As such, I worry that if I spent $600+ on a DSLR, and then lenses on top of that, I wouldn't understand how to properly use it, and I'd end up with a dust collector. Even with my ~$400 Sony, I don't know what most of the settings in the camera mean. I end up getting crappy pictues quite often and question if I should be mad at the camera, or take a class.

One thing that I know for sure, is that neither of the cameras that we have take very good close up pictures. I prefer to use my cell phone over my sony... this to me is pretty sad.

I do want an SLR, but as stated, I worry about understanding it. I wonder if I could request a photography class for my birthday...? Would that be a good approach?