Often times as parents we ask ourselves whether we are doing a good job; whether what we say and so is having a positive impact on our children. More often than not, the answer is rather humbling, but occasionally there are glimpses of success. Here is a small one of ours, with a bit of humour.

The other day I was working in garden in the backyard with Miriam and we came across a yellow badminton birdie. Miriam picked it up, looked at it and promptly threw it over the fence to our neighbour's yard without so much as a word. When I asked her why she did that, she replied, "It's not ours, we don't have any yellow ones." Our neighbours, a middle-aged couple, who have an adult son are not known to be avid badminton players, but there was a day a few months ago that their son had a few friends over and set up a badminton net. Upon prying a bit further, I discovered that every couple of days for the past couple of months, Miriam will find the yellow birdie in our yard and dutifully throw it back over the fence. Apparently our neighbours believe it is ours. This made me chuckle a bit, so I thought I should let Miriam know this and suggested that next time we just hold onto it. She was adamant that we couldn't possibly keep it, because it isn't ours, "and that would be stealing." I asked her what she thought we should do, to which she replied, "I guess we'll just keep playing tennis with the neighbours."

We are about to enter the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity.

When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...

1. The woman buys the food.
2. The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert .
3. The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beverage in hand.
4. The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the women.

Here comes the important part:

5. THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine...

6. The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
7. The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he flips the meat .

Important again:

8. THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine...

9. The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.
10. After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

11. Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
12. The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night off.' And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women...