Here's the deal.

I had loads to do, today. For a start there was the pile of bags and boxes stacked up at one end of the living room to sort out, plus a load of hi-fi cables that needed sorting and connecting. And then there the was the washing and a bit of cleaning, too. All the usual stuff.

And Dan and Abi were as good as gold, all the time I was just pottering about, so I promised them that we could play Monopoly, this evening. Of course, the problem with making a deal like that - even an implied one - is that at some point it'll definitely be cashed in.

And so it was, just after eight o'clock when we sat down to play. Dan's less keen on Monopoly these days - not that he was ever wild about it - but Abi loves it. And I have to say, she has a business mind: she's a natural, unlike her dad!

But once the game got going, we all started to enjoy ourselves, chatting amongst ourselves as the game progressed. It's the accepted wisdom that girls mature faster than boys and whether that's true or not, it seems to me that the pair of them are much more like peers these days.

Anyway, we had a couple of happy hours and then Milly came in from an evening at the cinema, which brought the game to a timely end, i.e. I used it as an excuse to finish!