I'm waiting for the custard pie

I had a revelation today. I now know what my role in the family is. When the boys were babies and toddlers, it was clear - I was the mummy, feeding, nappy changing etc. Now that they are boys I am still required for my pocket-money giving and cookie-baking skills but they are really more interested in their dad for the fun stuff. Which is as it should be. However I do appear to have acquired one other role: straight man.

You may recall that the title of this blog is a direct quote from Second Born aged about 4 when he sized up my attempts to lose weight and firm everything up at the gym. I should have seen then where this was going. And in fact, when I think about it, I was the butt of First Born's very first joke. When he was a baby, just learning to talk, his party trick was to respond to various words. If you said "cow" he would say "moo". If you said "dog" he'd say "woof". And if you said "mummy" or "daddy" he would try to repeat it. One day, he must have been a bit distracted (at least I choose to believe so). Because when we said "mummy", he said "woof". Instant hilarity. Every grown up in the vicinity (myself included) fell about laughing. First Born is not daft. He could spot a good act. After that, every time someone said "Mummy" to him, he replied, with great glee, with "Woof!!" And it worked every time.

Scroll forward to last week and the whole Pokemon servant thing. And now, my dear Husband has been showing my impressionable children this*. So it will come as no surprise to any of you to learn that if I now express an opinion on any subject (bedtime, suitability of Nintendo for playing before school, the gold standard) I am met with a chorus of "Women! Know your limits!" followed by hysterical giggling. I'm doomed.

*In case anyone is worrying, that clip was put in context for them. I'm not that daft!