Child Services will probably be called

Both my teenage kids were off school yesterday. My son on study leave, my daughter with the "tail end" of a sore throat. I had to go to college (tests - no getting out of it) so I left them home alone with strict instructions not to torture or maim each other.

I left the house at 9:00am, returning at 3:45pm and as I passed the computer room window I noticed that the computer was conspicuously not being used. Strange.

The side door was locked (when I go out I have the kids lock it behind me) so I knocked and waited. No answer. A little worried now, I knocked again.

Suddenly, my daughter appeared from the patio, wearing a pink nightdress with a jacket over the top.

"Mummy!!!!!!!"

She seemed awfully pleased to see me. Then my son appeared holding a spoon in one hand and wearing goggles (looking like something out of a Mad Max movie).

"You left us to fend for ourselves!" he accused.

I followed them both onto the patio where I found they had built a campfire and were "enjoying" a meal of baked beans (from a blackened tin can) and "toast" (sooty bread). 10 minutes after I left the house that morning, all the power went off! As it was pouring with rain, my son had his sister hold an umbrella over him while he made and cooked on a campfire. They were home alone all day with no electricity and claimed:

"Mum we were so BORED! There was no TV, no Nintendo, no music, no computer. We had to play word games!"

*sigh* thank goodness they are resourceful kids - eh...?