One afternoon nearly two weeks ago, when the big gates of my abode were wide open and I was chatting to Jade (the handsome pilot’s ten year old daughter) out on the nature-strip, two cyclists pulled up beside us; it was Drew, Jade’s little brother (aged five), and his friend and neighbour, Kevin (also five), who looks like Charlie Brown.

“Sally, you’ll never guess what..” Kevin said in the knowledge that I would respond correctly.

“What?” I fell into line.

“My trainer wheels came off yesterday!” he gushed with pride.

“Oh, well done Kevin!” I enthused, “I hadn’t noticed but now I can see. You look great, and so grown up!”

“My trainer wheels came off last week,” announced Drew.

“Really? That’s so great. How grown up you both are now! And you have nice strong arms by the look of it,” I added.

In the same way that boys have always raised their arms to bring up their muscles, the two little chaps showed me their bulging biceps and I was duly impressed.

“I can do push-ups,” said Drew.

“Really? No!”

“Yes, my Dad taught me,” Drew said proudly.

For a moment I had a mental picture of the handsome pilot doing push-ups, then Drew threw himself onto the grass and proceeded to show me that he wasn’t kidding.

“You are strong,” I complimented.

“And I can do it with one arm and one leg,” he said.

And he showed me how it was done, after which I had another mental picture of his father doing it.

Kevin, still straddling his bike, said goodbye and cycled off, perhaps a bit deflated, on his bike without training wheels.

Back on his feet Drew asked:

“What do you do in that big house every day Sally?”

“Well, there is a lot of housework to do in such a big house,” I exaggerated, and added for effect, “Sue must be a slave to housework.”

Drew’s face lit up as he had a brainwave.

“Jade and I could do your housework for you,” he looked for confirmation from his sister.

“Of course we could,” Jade backed him up. “We have to help Mum but it would be more fun to help you.”

“Can you mop floors and polish furniture?” I asked.

“Yes, and if you’ve got a ladder I could get up on the roof and polish that too,” Drew said for the sake of humour and we all laughed. Then he added, “We’ll make the house even more shinier for you than when Sue does it!”

In my next blog post I will tell you what happened when the children of the handsome pilot turned up to do my housework.