Once upon a time, in a small country, people decided to investigate what it was that parents really liked the most. A competition was organised. It would use the latest invention of Professor Crank-Shafte: the Gladometer.

To date, the Gladometer is the only contraption ever built capable of measuring joy and happiness.

So, one by one, the children demonstrated their own particular talents to their parents. And the Gladometer faithfully measured their parents' reactions.
One boy turned up with a trained pig; the pig sang and danced. A girl came and played the violin like an angel, and an intelligent boy came and read his very big book. The parent's happiness was plain to see.

Finally, a boy came to the Gladometer carrying nothing. Nor did he know how to do anything. When the organisers asked him what he was going to do, he simply said:

"I am very obedient."

This said, the machine measured such a high reading that it began violently vibrating, and finally exploded. The boy who had done nothing won all the prizes that day, for solving the mystery of what pleases parents the most.