This is the modern way; JeFF BrAZIer'S FAMILY TALK.(News)

What a truly groundbreaking week it's been! I've introduced my children at the ages of six and eight to two activities that I didn't get to try as a kid or even as an adult.

No, we didn't go jet-skiing, snowboarding or anything flash like that - the three of us basically made our debut at the good old climbing wall and practised roller skating. 'Is that all?' I hear you cry.

I realised it's the instinctive desire as a parent to give my child what I didn't have which led me to this question: 'Is it easier to give my child a better upbringing than it was for my mum?' Parents in the 80s arguably spent less time entertaining their kids than we do ours because we had that 'freedom' to go out in the morning and come back when we were hungry at tea time.

We weren't force-fed the dangers that have always existed such as roads, paedophiles, bullies and drugs, so we played out on our own. Same dangers, more publicity. Were kids ever any less precious than they are now? Kids then didn't have the considerable play options that exist now either - the soft play centres, the Laser Quest, the skateboard parks and of course the 239 varieties of gaming devices that kids spend a little too much time on.

You'd think that kids were far more occupied these days, so why is it I cant help feeling that the more they get, the less content they are? How much can a child play with at once? This might explain why the kids always end up playing with cardboard boxes at Christmas!

This modern generation of parents possibly gets it wrong because although kids still love the simple things: a box to paint on, outdoor games or making a den, we choose to give our kids the most expensive toy. This is because we're out working longer to pay for these must-have items.

The internet is both the best and worst thing to happen to society. I can't wait for my children to start asking me if they can join Facebook - oops they already have!

Less money, less TV, less choice. Our parents managed to go without, comparatively speaking, and our childhoods were very simple.

But because of technology and the desire to give more than we have, modern parenthood is a hard slog, and one that we fight against ourselves.