It seemed like a good idea at the time.
“Come on boys,” I said. “We’re going to Glasgow for two nights. Call it your half term holiday.”
The older two were playing rugby for Dundee Eagles as part of a kids’ club festival in Glasgow – so why not make it a proper break?
With Jamie away for work, it would be me and my three boys – just me, them and no iPads.
“What did you say? No iPads? NO IPADS?”
“It will be fun, wholesome. We didn’t have screens when I was your age.”
“In the olden times,” the eldest clarified to the youngest, “When people used words like wholesome.”
Fast forward to 9pm in our rickety hotel beds with no kids TV, no ball to throw, no cats to stroke and a mum nagging to keep the noise down for other guests, I deeply regretted the iPad ban.
For, as awful and dangerous and zombie-like our over-use of screens is, in moderation they have a heroic place in family life.
Our hotel was in the city centre and the boys were in awe at the scale of everything – and blown away by dishes magically moving round on a conveyor belt at Yo!Sushi where dinners get to grab a plate as it passes their table.
Chester declared the edamame beans very chewy as he ate the beans complete with shells on.
There’s no doubting Glasgow is wonderful for adults – for clothes and beauty shopping, cocktails and hotels.
But as it dawned on me that we still had six hours to fill before the rugby, I couldn’t help but think that Dundee’s actual centre offers a much more family friendly day out.
Of course, a Glasgow mum knows where the nearest equivalents of Ryze and the Fun Factory are. They know the places their kids like and given the population of more than 600,000, compared to ours of a little under 150,000, there’s no doubt there will be more in offer.
But I was a Dundee mum without a car and wandering the city centre of Glasgow, which made me appreciate our city in a way in ever have before.
When do we ever say “today kids, we’re doing to see the sights of our own city” – but we should.
For children love learning about the history of Dundee in the McManus Gallery, from where it’s a walk to V&A (both of which are free to browse) and the Discovery – via a peruse in Toy Town in the Overgate and Tony Macaroni for lunch.
That’s the plan I’d put together for a pal visiting. So why not put a day aside to do it ourselves?
We jumped into a taxi to the science centre – if you’ve not been and your kids love the Dundee version, the scale of offerings and interactivity will delight them.
And finally, the rugby, watching their beloved Glasgow Warriors win against Dragons at Scotsdon Stadium, where they played against another junior club East Kilbride on the pitch at half time.
This was, of course, epic. And when we look back, we’ll remember our Glasgow holiday was wonderful.
And forget that mum vowed never to leave the iPads behind again.
