This is quite a specific piece of advice, and one which actually came to us through my father's side.
The story begins with his parents who, for reasons lost in the passage of time, were left in charge of a small girl in their house for an afternoon. The girl, by all accounts, was rather sullen. My grandfather, in a desperate attempt to amuse the melancholy child, searched the room for inspiration.
"Look," he said, picking up a somewhat squashed, black, furry hat and presenting it to the young girl, "Dead cat!".
Safe to say, the little girl was in no way amused.
What do we learn from this? Well, think before you act, of course. But mostly, never present a grumpy child with an animal carcase, even if it is only an item of clothing - a dilemma which I'm sure many of us face on a regular basis...
