Desperate to watch the television in peace father Jason West, from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, devised a patience-testing game and told his children the last one standing could pocket the cash
A devious dad determined to watch the football news undisturbed concocted an ingenious game to occupy his two children – by seeing which could hold £5 to the wall with their nose the longest.
Jason West was tearing his hair out at the prospect of his children Lily, 10, and Charlie, six, commandeering the television to play Xbox on Friday while his wife Lindsay was out.
Desperate to watch the television in peace father Jason West, from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, devised a patience-testing game and told his children the last one standing could pocket the cash.
The crafty Man United fan’s scheme paid off and he was able to enjoy the football results uninterrupted as the children stood silently with their noses to the wall for a staggering 45 minutes.
Window cleaning company owner Jason, 34, said: ‘I wasn’t getting a look-in on the telly, I never do, they were both on the Xbox playing Minecraft.
‘I wanted to watch Sky Sports and catch-up on the football I’d missed while I was out at work.
‘They were on there over an hour – it felt like a week.’
Inspired by a similar game his uncle had him and his younger sister play when he was 10 years old, Jason fished out two fivers from his wallet.
Jason West was tearing his hair out at the prospect of his children Lily, 10, and Charlie, six, commandeering the television to play Xbox on Friday while his wife Lindsay was out
Jason said: ‘I said to them both ‘do you want to earn some money?’ That normally gets their attention.
‘The rules were that they weren’t allowed to touch each of their notes with anything other than their nose.
‘At the back of my head I seem to remember my uncle trying something similar with me and my younger sister.
‘I won when we played it – at that age I would have been there all week for a fiver.’
The novelty factor hasn’t worn off as the pair have already asked if they can give it another go
Jason managed to snatch 45 minutes of child-free TV while his competitive kids battled it out to be crowned winner.
Jason said: ‘They couldn’t wait to give it a go. They were holding the notes up in the kitchen in a spot where I could see them from the lounge.
‘I had one eye on the TV and the other on them – I’m living proof blokes can multi-task.
‘I took the picture after 20 minutes but they stuck it out and Charlie won after managing 45 minutes.
The devious dad concocted an ingenious game to occupy his two children – by seeing which could hold £5 to the wall with their nose the longest
‘I was really surprised it lasted as long as it did – I didn’t think it would have carried on so long.
‘As soon as Charlie realised he’d won he started running around celebrating.. Despite Lily not winning I let her keep her fiver, it was the least I could do.’
Jason said that Charlie hadn’t spent his winnings yet, instead choosing to stash it in his money box.
Jason said: ‘Charlie’s not spent it on anything yet, he’ll probably spend it on something to do with wrestling.’
Winner Charlie said: ‘I enjoyed playing the game, it was fun beating my sister. I’m looking forward to playing it again’
And the novelty factor hasn’t worn off as the pair have already asked if they can give it another go.
Jason said: ‘They’ve already asked me if they can play it again – but it might start getting pricey.
‘If they wanted to play it more I could probably use IOUs that they could cash in for their holidays.’
Winner Charlie said: ‘I enjoyed playing the game, it was fun beating my sister. I’m looking forward to playing it again.’