So, you’re a grown-up now and probably don’t recognize yourself as a child. But you are still a child, although you’ll get strange looks if you park in a ‘parent and child’ space if you happen to go shopping with your mother or father.

Until both of your parents have passed on and you have been promoted, so to speak, you remain a child. And you have a responsibility. You have a duty – now you are a Rules Player – to be courteous, thoughtful, patient and co-operative towards your parents.

Yes, yes, I know they drive you mad but from now on you have a role and it is simply this:

• To behave impeccably with them.
• To look after them if that’s what they want/need.
• To back off if that’s what they want/need.
• To listen to them when they witter on, without losing your rag or sighing.
• To appreciate that they have had a long and hard life and gathered a lot of experience – some of which may be of some use to you – and you won’t know if you carry on shaking your head and ignoring everything they say.
• To visit, write, phone, communicate more often than you think you should – but probably not as much as they think you should.
• Not to bad-mouth them in front of your children but to talk them up as being the greatest grandparents in the world.
• To be pleased when they come to stay and happily let them watch whatever TV programme they want without complaining.

And why will you do all this? Because they gave you life, brought you up. Yes, yes, I know they made mistakes along the way but you forgive them all of them (see Rule 76) and you turned out fine. Oh yes you did.

Parents deserve decent treatment when they get old and need attention and someone to listen to them and take them seriously – and they make great baby/dog sitters (and usually free as well).