Will Slater: "We just need to demonstrate a bit of willpower" UNLESS you are going skiing or visiting relatives far away, the February half-term holiday is like one long, wet bank holiday at a seaside town. Something to be endured and made the best of. It's too soon after Christmas to justify a splurge, and the weather is generally too miserable for much more than limited sorties in the cold. Factor in a partner who has to work at home all hours to conclude a huge project, and the challenges of keeping everyone sane and safe are considerable Last year I made a virtue of visiting the beach at Gullane during a howling gale one afternoon and washing the car another, with the chamois posse promised a corner-shop treat by way of a reward. This year, in the absence of the giant petri dish that was Leith Waterworld, the swimming pool at Bonnyrigg proved a huge hit. It allowed the children to expend lots of energy whizzing down the flume or hiding by the waterfall, lounging in the not-really-very-warm spa bath and jumping through the pool's, sorry, lagoon's, geyser. Then, while their hair was still really wet, they could develop a nice chill in the wind-exposed adventure playground, which boasted an unadvertised extra attraction - a giant ice puddle. Throw in the rash promise that each of our three could have a friend over for a sleepover and the week was taking care of itself. Except there was a total absence of culture, history or art. So I decided that we should all go to Dundee. I was steeled by Willpower: Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength, the new self-help book sweeping the US and now making us all feel inadequate over here. The authors espouse that the key to true happiness lies not in self-esteem but in self-control. It's the perfect tome for our times, an antidote to the buy now, don't pay later generation for whom apple is a gadget first and a fruit second. In the context of a wet half-term, it was all I needed to help me carry through the argument that a trip to RRS Discovery or the Dundee Science Centre was better than lurking at home in front of the nicely banked up fire and cello practice, sorry, Super Mario on the Wii. We just needed to demonstrate a bit of willpower and a glorious day would unfold. "I've been to the science centre with school and it will be cold on a ship," said one. "Don't want to," said another. "I'm meeting a friend later," said the third. Despite noting the irony that cold should postpone a trip to Captain Scott's ship, I decided to apply my willpower to challenge my own ideas of what we should do and swapped it for something they really wanted instead. Our trip to the cinema followed by a meal at Pizza Hut couldn't have gone better.