I took Akra Jr ten-pin bowling today.

I haven’t bowled in years, and it probably wouldn’t have occurred to me as a suitable five-year-old outing either, had it not been for one of his friends holding a birthday party there recently.

I’m glad we went though, as we both had a fantastic time. It cost no more than a visit to the cinema (which he doesn’t really enjoy, being afraid of the dark, loud noises and most of the plots of any children’s film ever made) and it was one of the few outings I could think of that was completely weather-proof. We got a “bowl as long as you like” deal and ended up staying over two hours, so we certainly got good value.

Humiliation, however, is defined as being beaten… TWICE… by your own Reception-age son who can barely lift the ball and just flings it (overarm… THUD… bounce bounce bounce…) in the vague direction of the pins.

I think next time I should get to use the raised gutters too. Although, to be fair, my aim did improve once I got into the swing of it. Akra Jr’s highest score was 101 and mine was 105, so not too shoddy, eh? We even both managed a couple of strikes in those two hours as well.

Oh, and further humiliation is having an astrophysics degree, spending half one’s life sitting in front of a computer, yet still needing help from the students in the next lane to work out how to set the bowling computer. Oh well. Pride and self-worth are well overrated attributes.