I don't see my niece and nephew as much as I'd like, so I make sure to have special time with them when I do. Since my nephew kab was four I've taken him out on 'adventures'. This involves just the two of us, doing something he likes. Since he lives in a city and loves all forms of transport, we often hop on a train, then a ferry to the beach.

Once we went a long way on a diesel train, when he had a huge passion for diesels and we have been to a kid-friendly museum and seen real and model trains. Young kids are happy to travel around and a day out doesn't have to be expensive - his mum loves the idea too.

Now he's 6, Kab will say to me 'you know our special adventures? Let's have another one'. Calling it an adventure gives the day a magical feel and if unexpected things happen like having to catch a bus because the trains are stopped we can say ' oh that's just part of the adventure'. Kab tells his sister "sorry, you can't come, this is me and AJ's special time". He really enjoys the special attention of the adventure.

What he doesn't know yet is that the day will come when it will be his sister's turn to have an aunty adventure. I think I'll handle that by making sure we do his adventure first. Happy adventuring