Smell The Cheese!

Karen and I have been spending some wonderful evenings with H and V, a married couple from Karen's church who have been good friends and great mentors to us, guiding us in this period of our relationship. These nights are precious to Karen and myself - we are invited over for cozy home-cooked dinners, and then spend the whole evening talking and chatting like old friends until the wee hours of the morning.

It has been eerie how well H and V and Karen and myself have hit it off - I have known them for under a year now, and Karen maybe double that, but it feels like we have been lifelong friends. Karen always says that H is like an older version of myself, and I tend to agree, while I can see in V what Karen will be like later in life. It's like God giving you a glimpse of your future, and how wonderful married life can be!

One of the many joys that we have spending time at H and V's is the chance to play with their three kids - the very well adjusted twins Jus and Josh, and little Nikki, who is about the cheekiest four year old I have ever seen.

Her eyes twinkle with mischief, and her chubby cheeks flank an impish grin as she thinks about the next best way to grab your attention, as kids her age do.

She is the apple of her father's eye, and I must say that I am really proud of her brothers, who have become more protective of her over the years, allowing her to join in and even helping her win at our favourite card game - Snorta! - which involves us making animal noises while turning over cards.

I know, I know, I should know better at my age than to be making animal noises. In my defense, I will say this - "Oink, oink!" "Rrrbiit!Rrrbitt!" "Tweet!Tweet!" "Cock-A-Doodle-Do!"

The defence rests its case, your Honour.

In many ways, the three siblings, Jus and Josh, and little Nikki remind me a little of my own family - the two brothers who feign annoyance at the antics of their little sister, but who secretly love her to bits.

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Anyway, last night, while the four of us were chatting away, little Nikki comes up to us and grabs on to the dining table chair, swinging her right leg vacantly, her mind ticking over at how to grab our grown-up attention.

She recalls, with a sudden light of inspiration, something that had tickled her father pink over the week.

"Hey Dad!" her little Australian-accented voice calls out. "SMELL THE CHEESE!" she says, beaming a smile.

H bursts out laughing and V is all smiles as we look on, bemused.

H turns to us, and then explains that little Nikki had learnt this new trick at school. He was about to explain it to us, but then turns to her, instead, and asks Little Nikki to kindly show Uncle (sobsob) hK how to

Smell The Cheese!

1. First, open up the palm of your left hand.
2. Place your closed fist of your right hand onto the left hand, forming what looks like a cheese on a plate.
3. Invite the clueless Uncle hK to "Smell... The... Cheese!".
4. As he brings his silly nose near to smell your 'Cheese!' punch his nose with your all your cheesy right hand might and then run away, laughing.

I stare in disbelief initially, but then burst out laughing at the cheeky little Nikki, and tried to pull off a trick of my own on her.

"Hey Nikki," I say. " Do you know," I begin earnestly, "they say that if your right hand is bigger than your face, then you are really smart, you know?"

hK's evil plan:

< /formulating ingenius plan >

1. Little Nikki  puts her right hand over her face, seeing if indeed she is Really Smart.
2. I smack her hand quickly, effectively causing her to slap herself on her own face.
3. Cruel laughter ensues.
4. Victory is mine.

< /end ingenius plan >

But instead this is how it turned out:

Little Nikki looks at me for a moment, her bright eyes piercing mine, and her little lower lip curled up in deep thought as she considers my proposition.

"SMELL THE CHEESE!" she says, her right hand missing my nose by inches, and the whole house erupts into laughter as they watched me being given the four-year-old equivalent of the middle finger.

And so it stands - Little Nikki 1 Uncle hK 0.