Just lately I did a little turn for a great old buddy of mine; he had promised to look after his two grandkids for an afternoon, completely forgetting that he had a clinic appointment to keep. As the appointment would be only a routine one and wouldnt take long I offered to mind the children when he was absent. As I live close to the medical centre it was easier for him to drop the boys off at my place, they were quite grown up enough to take in the arrangements and they know me well as we have met before on many occasions.

Being a keen hiker and outdoor type I imagined that the right method to pass the minutes would be an amble around our community nature reserve with binoculars to see what wildlife we all could spot. When the allotted time dawned though the heavens had opened, the rainfall being so hard that my modest excursion was thoroughly washed out. Because all of this was a last minute arrangement the kids had not arrived with something with which to entertain themselves, so naturally it was a situation of what can we do Unc?

Clutching at straws I remembered my own childhood wet afternoon activities, but my proposed game of Ludo or perhaps cards was met with pained expressions of bewilderment. Now although I own a computer, I do not own any games or software on it with the potential to entertain a couple of twelve-year-old boys, therefore I suggested we take a look on the internet for activities that the modern youngster could possibly think about to pass an afternoon (not necessarily a showery one).

I gave the mouse control to the boys and needless to say within just moments they had located a site where you might purchase all sorts of kids experiences as presents or simply get a pre-payment slip and let the youngsters select for themselves. I became rather overwhelmed with the number and selection of the experiences available; there was a gentle trek with a pony or holding raptors for any creature enthusiasts; sheltered sky-diving or karting for the slightly more venturesome types or screaming about a racing venue in a high-performance car for the true trainee adrenaline junkies.

I dont think the children had ever encountered anything such as it until then so, after having scrutinised all of the web site in great detail I told them each to pick what was their favourite experience. Although they may be twins they have rather diverse personalities so I anticipated conflicting answers, but was still amazed at their options. Phil is the quieter bookish one and gets pleasure from everything concerning the outside and wildlife; however I received a shock when he opted for the indoor sky-diving, his reason being that he would like to experience what it was like to be a bird so that he might appreciate them better.

Michael is by far a different character; his interest is cars but he still completely loves getting back to nature during the countless tenting trips his mother and father organise near the coast. I imagined he would decide on a drive in a Lotus or Aston Martin but finally he chose a scuba diving day encouraged by marine-life programmes hed watched on television.

Ive identified that this really is the very best technique to enjoy the company of little children conduct the strategy of filling up their heads with fanciful ideas and then give them back to their mums and dads to pay for it all!