Spending quality time with your family is what holidays, weekends and special events were meant for but with so many things vying for your time and attention; it is easier said than done.

My lad is at that age when the world does not fit any more and is well out of his comfort zone in most social situations that ask for a contribution from him. From making his bed to appreciating that I still love him. With his 13th birthday coming up I was determined to make it a exceptional day for both of us that we could share as well as making him the focus of attention, in a way that did not mortify him.

So I have got him an enhanced robotic kit. That necessitates he acquire some new skills which I will relish demonstrating to him how and why. It will be a learning curve for both of us and test my staying power and his faculty to concentrate and relish the rewards of simple labour.

My first job was to find the right robot kit that would fit my budget, our aims, give him hours of fun and good instructions on how to build robots. They range in price from a few hundred pounds to under ten pounds. So the range is vast! I found thousands on the internet, there are nearly two hundred at Amazon alone (search for "Robot Kits" and they will all come up). I could not resist the Spykee the WiFi spy robot that is a buildable robot that moves, sees, hears and speaks (by Meccano). It's pricey but it ticked all the right boxes. I did not want it to be a one day wonder. His Laptop is always on; that seems to have been a smash that was got last Christmas. When we have constructed the robot he will be able to upload an application and then use his laptop to drive it.

The robot kit comes with lots of hip features plus an on-board camera. So when he's residing over at his mates he can still keep an eye on his bedroom to check his sister is not groping through his gear. It has a video surveillance system; it senses movements and sets off an alarm or posts a photo of what it has seen (you can also make videos). It even has a docking station that it will go to and re-charge when the battery is running low automatically.

As it is portable you can do trendy stuff. Like run it around the house (while you are miles away), find someone to chat to and have a video natter with them by using the on-board CAM and microphone using Voice over IP, all connected to your router via your local Wi-Fi. Luckily it can't get through closed doors so he won't be propelling it anywhere upsetting! I can set it up as added security when we all go away on breaks, and check in to have a look round the house just to make sure all is well.

If there is an intruder I can set the robot up so that the movement sensor will automatically trigger the CAM and take pictures and transmit them over the internet to me or the local police station. Don't know who's going to be more astonished me or the foreigner!