I spent a fun few hours with the grandsons yesterday – playing, playing, playing! What obsesses them most at the moment is the Olympics – so if they can retain their memories of this week and next and their interest in all the various sports, the legacy is certainly safe in their hands!
I don't know quite where their inspiration has come from – whether it's their parents or nursery or just the fact that they are two London lads who've become aware of all the Olympic hype around. Certainly last week when I drove them through Chiswick, they remarked on every Olympic flag they saw and I taught them about the olympic lanes.
On Saturday their father took them to Fulham to be at the roadside when the Road Race passed and they were excited to tell me about the police motor cyclists who had their sirens on yet took the time to 'high five' spectators as they passed by! And they seemed to enjoy the cyclists too although they obviously flashed past.
So yesterday we spent ages playing 'Olympics'. I'd mocked up two medals from some old chocolate money (left over from Christmas!) so we staged running and cycling races and they pretending to swim and dive. Mind you, this was before Tom Daley's appearance yesterday: I dread to think now how they're entertaining themselves as the youngest is an inveterate climber and gymnast and I think we all fear he'll be doing backward somersaults over walls now!
But the great thing is that this 4 and 1/2 year old and 2 and 3/4 year old are so involved and so proud of the fact that the Olympics are happening here in their home town. As one of them said: 'We've very lucky to have the Olympics here' and if every other UK youngster is only half as engaged as they are then the Olympic legacy feels secure.
