I just remembered this story from my last trip. When I'm on the road, I regularly call the family to check in and say hello. Andrew (8) tells me about his day and asks how I'm doing usually, as you might expect. Michael (5) just wants to know what I've bought for him. He's becoming more directive about what constitutes acceptable gifts and went as far as saying I wouldn't be allowed to re-enter the house without Lego Bionicles in hand this time.

What's more, he now wants to control what gifts Andrew gets too. On one call, I was talking to Michelle and heard the kids fighting in the background. When Michael came on, he was crying and upset.

Michael: "Andrew was being really mean to me. Throw away his gifts and just bring him rocks."

Yeah, I'll get right on that. Nothing I'm looking forward to more than carrying rocks in my suitcase. I'm sure there's some law about that too that would invite Customs to check my orifices out thoroughly.