Aversion therapy

As parents we hope best for Number One Son and wish he will find a career in something more financially rewarding than archaeology. Naturally, it is difficult to say anything about his academic talent, but a vocational career is nothing to be avoided either. Plumbers are still busy – considering the number who were not returning the calls when we needed one. The garage owner in our village is also highly respected and successful; he actually started a MOT business and the other provider immediately dropped their prices. It is definitely something to consider if he turns out not to be any good in practical matters with his hands. If the love of cars is any indication, we are well on way to establish a successful career in motoring.

Maybe one should avoid taking Number One Son to archaeological sites or museums in order to improve the changes of wider choice. These are hard to avoid though, since many country parks in the area have archaeological features by default and as long as museums are free they are good destinations on a rainy day. In addition, Number One Son has not yet shown much interest to the specimens themselves, but enjoyed running around and testing the activities in the children’s area. The Egyptian section in the local museum actually scares him, since it is quite dark and ‘atmospheric’.

Number One Son shows much more interest towards natural sciences with his perfect categorisation of stones or general interest in climbing and exploring. Since these fascinations are quite universal, he may lose these interests in the future. However, an ongoing interest in coins is something we hope to build upon. Number One Son loves to empty Archaeologist Husband’s pockets of coins and fill his own piggy bank full. He fills and empties the piggy bank consecutively, orders the coins in a size order and carries his coins around in his piggy bank. Truly showing Uncle Scrooge like tendencies. He even picks up any loose penny coins he sees one on a pavement and hands them to us – hopefully he will hold on to them soon. Our conclusion is that bankers may not be loved now but we would love a banker in the family!