The other evening I noticed my five-year old daintily patting himself dry with the towel after his shower.

“No,” I said. “Ya gotta rub the water off.”

I took the towel and gave his hair a good rub, then flipped it around his back and pulled it back and forth.

His body – thanks primarily to his wild uncontrolled giggling – went limp into the towel and spun back and forth like a rag doll.

I stopped towelling. “See?” I said. “That’s how you do it.”

“Daddy,” he laughed. “You screwed me!”

“Huh?”

“Cause I went back and forth like a screw! You screwed me.”

“Ah,” I said. “I guess you’re right – but let’s not tell anyone else, okay?”

In retrospect, that may well have been the absolute worst thing I could have said.

Oh well. One thing’s for sure: from now on, he’s on his own when it comes to towelling off.