I’ve been having troubles lately getting Tavi, our parakeet, to come out of her cage. As a remedy, I decided to try leaving the cage open while we eat meals. For days, she didn’t come out.

The other night, though, we were in the middle of dinner when she flew down to the table. Everybody jumped, then went still as we tried not to scare her.

Tavi walked over to steal some food from me. I gave her a breadcrumb and shooed her away from my plate. She turned and ran straight for my youngest son.

“She’s coming to me!”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “But don’t let her on your plate. Just shoo her away if she tries – ”

Too late. Before I could finish my sentence, Tavi leaped onto his pile of peas and settled down into them.

Both the boys started laughing helplessly.

“You’re still going to have to eat them,” I threatened. “You can’t get out of peas that easy.”

“It’s not my fault! What can I do?”

“Shoo her away.”

Tavi must have heard me. She looked up at him and opened her beak.

“Da-ad!”

“Okay,” I said. “Just eat the ones from around the side. The ones she hasn’t stepped on.”

Not the best solution, I’ll admit. But what else could I do?