gdgt

Given your doubts and relative lack of interest in photography, why not start with a less expensive, more compact and simpler camera? This is not a question of your capabilities or intelligence; as one needs only modest doses of both to operate a DSLR or any full-featured camera. Clearly your interest is in taking pictures that are meaningful to you, and you don't need a DSLR of any stripe to do that.

If you have a feature phone or smartphone with a camera, how happy are you with that camera? Do you have specific concerns or disappointments with it? If not, then why not focus on using it? There is a useful saying that is particularly applicable to building a family photo collection, the best camera is always the one that you have with you. Even very compact cameras can be a hassle to carry for many (if not most) people, but you will almost always have that phone in your pocket . . .

If you need something more capable than your phone's camera, I would look for a more mainstream digicam with some optical zoom and good low light performance. If video matters to you, then look for 720p or better capabilities. Do be aware that video requires better light than stills, and I know more than a few people who have been disappointed with their digicam's video for exactly this reason. Thus, if you are more interested in building a video library (instead of emphasizing still images), you may want to consider a camera optimized for video . . . a video camera.