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Hobbies for grandson

(30 Posts)
Ginny42 Sat 08-Dec-18 15:59:56

We're trying to wean my 10 year old GS off computer games. He has recently set up his train set again and is having a new train and some scenery for his layout for Christmas. So far so good.

During his summer stay with me I got him into collecting coins from the Royal Mint for his birthday and also collecting fossils.

I have been saving stamps for him for a long time and given that there aren't many letters with stamps now, they are quite difficult to come by. However, I do have some and some first day covers from the UK, Spain and some sets of stamps from China.

My question is: Anyone know the best way to go about saving stamps? I presume they don't still use the fiddly little hinges I used as a child. Do they use an album?

He attends school a long way from where he lives and playing with his friends online is a vital part of his weekends. He's not allowed to play during the week but he can spend a few hours playing with his trains and getting his collections sorted.

Any ideas please?

Ginny42 Sun 09-Dec-18 14:10:53

Yes, Fifa is really good and amazingly realistic. I love it too. He used to really like Minecraft but has gone off it a bit. I'll take a look at Sims Jalima.

They have 3 cats, one of which is his own cat and he's very caring about them all, plus a stray we call Miaow, which we feed and pay vets bills for when necessary.

Transport isn't a problem and there is a school bus from the village to the school 25km away. Our problem is that the youngest of two brothers who live closest was/still is a good friend of my GS, but his mother will not allow him to come to play unless we invite his older brother too. The older one is very badly behaved and when the boys were younger they just did as he told them, but now they're older they stand up to him and we got fed up of dealing with his controlling behaviour. She said if they're not both invited don't bother! A couple of times a term the boys in his group have sleep overs and then there's birthday parties often with a sleep over.

The really good thing about the computer games is that he's having conversations with his school friends.

Thank you again for the ideas.

Jalima1108 Sun 09-Dec-18 14:29:47

It may not be Sims Ginny42, but I'm fairly sure that's what it's called - you build a virtual world, virtual cities etc.

That's a pity about the younger brother who is not allowed to visit without his sibling. The younger boy would benefit from some time away from his older brother too.

Ginny42 Mon 10-Dec-18 22:00:46

I agree, it's a disaster the other mother insisting the older brother must come. It's quite a bizarre notion anyway, as it's usually older siblings not wanting the younger ones tagging along.

I think it's because of the older boy's behaviour issues and their parents want to have a couple of hours without them both. Twice they just left them at the front gate and drove off. Huge remote controlled gates and the two of them left on the other side. She didn't even get out if her car.

Jalima1108 Tue 11-Dec-18 18:19:19

As you are the ones doing the inviting, then surely they must respect the fact that you want just the one child to come to play!