How much do you know about your parents’ jobs? Did you ever get involved in their work? Believe me, it is an interesting thing to help them out. By playing a part, even a very small one, in their business, you’ll make fresh discoveries about the two humans you are most familiar with.

One evening, when I finished showering and came out of the bathroom, Mum asked me a favour. Curious I walked over and was presented with a paper. She said she was writing a report to introduce to her boss the progress her team had made since she became manager of her department. My interest was aroused because I had never done a task like it before.

“Can you offer me some feedback on it? Your father said that it is a mess,” Mother said, with a disgusted expression on her face. My father was on the sofa, watching TV as if nothing had happened.

“OK, let me read it,” I replied with eager anticipation. However, after going through the report I tried to repress my laughter. Can you imagine reading a pupil’s composition riddled with mistakes and inconsistencies? Reading Mother’s writing, I felt sympathetic towards a primary school Chinese language teacher who has to live with lots of such beginners’ blunders. It also felt like doing my Chinese homework question where you are required to correct the sentences.

Refraining from laughing, I turned to Mother and said, “Hmm, it is a good report, but some things need modification.” Pleased with my comment, Mum encouraged me to air my views further.

As I put forward my opinions, Mother happily accepted them and scribbled some notes on her paper. As for Dad, he was left out because of his rudeness towards his wife.

I am proud of my help to Mother since it is the first time I have applied what I learned at school in a real-life situation. By the way, one thing too important to ignore is that you need to find a way with women. They are quite different animals from the opposite gender.