Jack came round today. His wife had been ill and been in bed for a week, so I hadn't seen him for a while. They have two small kids, so his mother-in-law, who is well into her seventies, had been staying with them to help out.
I could see that he was a little bit upset and asked if everything was OK. He hesitated. "Mrs. Jones from down the road called today", he said. "She was telling me off for letting my old mother-in-law work so hard."
Here's his story. Believe it or not:
Jack was in the kitchen everyday, taking care of the family dinner and the snacks for the kids during the day. His mother-in-law was also mostly hanging out in the kitchen.
On the Monday, his mother-in-law had asked him to get some leeks from the greengrocer's. Afterwards she sat down at the table in the kitchen with her coffee and cigarettes and cleaned the leeks.
On the Tuesday he was sent for some cabbage. She cleaned it and boiled it together with the leeks.
Wednesday was carrots and potatoes.
Thursday was onions.
Friday Brussels sprouts - and then the soup was ready.
Friday evening Mrs. Jones came round to see how Jack's wife was doing. The three ladies sat in the kitchen talking. Jack overheard Mrs. Jones tell his mother-in-law how nice is was that she could come and help her daughter. She asked what she had been doing.
"Well, I have been cooking everyday", she said. Mrs. Jones apparently thought that Jack could have done the cooking some of the time and let him know so in no uncertain terms over the phone the next day.
"And the soup", I inquired "was it good at least". I was happy to see a smile appearing on Jack's face. "The small ones both stuck their tongues out, their faces were contorted with disgust and they let out a loud "Aurrrrgh!"", he said.
"Sometimes you just can't help loving these little brats", he added, his smile never leaving his face.
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