Free Six Months to Get a Life by Ben Adams Page B

few days to have a great time with the boys.

Sunday 11 th May
    I am feeling quite pleased with myself. Our boys’ weekend in Dorset went well. Even Sean had a good time despite not seeing hide nor hair of a computer screen for four days.
    The weekend wasn’t without its trials and tribulations though. We took the dog with us but I hadn’t thought to check whether dogs were allowed at the campsite. The prominent ‘Strictly No Dogs’ sign at the side of the road alerted us to our error. Jack put his coat over Albus, who was laying down in the boot, as we were let through the security gate and into the campsite.
    The site was pretty primitive. It consisted of a large sloping field and a toilet block. There were only a couple of other tents up when we arrived. Because we had the dog we chose a position in the furthest corner of the field, as far away from the other campers as we could get.
    At Jack’s insistence I let the boys put the tent up. They did a great job of it. Jack might only be fourteen but he is already more practical-minded and good with his hands than me. Sean was his willing assistant, content to take orders from his older brother.
    While the kids were bashing the last few tent pegs in to the ground, I nipped down the road and bought us all fish and chips for dinner. We sat on the grass and were eatinghappily until Jack hit on a thought. We hadn’t packed the dog’s food. I bet you can tell who used to do the packing in our household. Off I trotted back to the chip shop.
    ‘Large cod and chips for the German Shepherd please.’
    We had a decent night’s sleep on that first night. The following morning, after a breakfast of bacon sandwiches for four, we went for a long walk over the Purbeck hills. The views were spectacular.
    Albus spent hours barking at sheep and chasing the boys. My ex and I had bought the dog in an effort to create days like this. It is a shame she wasn’t there with us to enjoy it. I do still miss her sometimes. She would have put Albus on his lead to stop him chasing sheep, she would have brought the dog food with her rather than buying him a half-pound burger for lunch and she would definitely not have let him lick my ice cream when I wasn’t looking, as Sean did. But despite being the sensible one, she would have added something to the day.
    When we returned to the campsite, it was jam-packed. Half the world seemed to have decided to converge on our corner of the Dorset countryside. They were there for a kite festival. Until this weekend I had thought that kites were things that kids younger than mine played with for five minutes before they got tangled up or stuck in a tree. Apparently I was wrong. Kites of all shapes and sizes were laid out over cars and on every spare inch of grass. People were admiring each other’s babies. It was quite funny to watch.
    The other thing that made the boys laugh was that we now weren’t the only ones to have smuggled a dog in to the campsite. As we were busy cooking our sausages for dinner, Albus was chasing his new BFF around the neighbouring field.
    Yesterday we hit the beach. We thought we had better find somewhere off the beaten track because we didn’t wantthe dog to keep running off with little Bobby’s football or Angel’s sandwich (he has got a taste for sandwiches now) so we drove to Studland Bay, a less well-populated beach than Swanage.
    I hadn’t known in advance but I chuckled to myself when I saw the ‘naturists beyond this point’ sign as we were walking to the beach.
    We were the first ones on the beach and had an hour of fun trying to entice the dog into the sea. Gradually, though, other people started arriving. It was only a matter of time.
    I was digging a hole with the boys and the dog when a shocked look suddenly appeared on Jack’s face.
    ‘Dad, that man’s got no swimming trunks on,’ he exclaimed.
    ‘Son, didn’t you see the signs?’ I asked him.
    ‘What signs?’ Jack queried.
    ‘The ones that said