What a wonderful day!

Today my girl turned five. How can my eldest girl be five already? On the one hand I feel like she’s always been with me, on the other, she only just got here!

Of course she’s chuffed to bits that she’s finally reached five, and sees this milestone as a sure step towards being grown up (I didn’t have the heart to point out she got a way to go yet!). I, on the other hand, am slightly less excited and am glad it shall be a while.

It’s not that I mind her growing up – in fact I’m looking forward to seeing what she does with her life, and J's the one I'm most looking forward to being a friend with, but I also have the feeling she’ll be the first out the door. That normally raises some eyebrows. Most folks (around here anyway) have some bizarre urge to get their kids out of their hair as soon as possible. Seriously! I have friends planning their retirement as soon as the kids finish school, so they can downsize and live a sweeter life.

Not me. I live in dread of the day the last one leaves. Which I think will be P. Because while J has dreams of being a Doctor (or possibly a beautician after today’s excitement at receiving make up. MAKE UP! And heels! Not from us!!), and R envisions himself as an archaeologist (which disappoints my father, as there’s no money in it. Apparently.), P practices his stripping techniques with ambitions of being a strip-o-gram (Danny DeVito’s guest appearance on Friends has a lot to answer for!).

But I mustn’t turn this into a post about P and his amusing quirks, today is about J. It’s her day!

My beautiful girl turned five at nine-thirty this morning. Not that she’s yet bothered asking about that day – strange that, as both R and P knew the stories of theirs births by this age! But maybe that’s because I can remember theirs and recounted it to them (possibly unasked), but J’s is a bit of a blur. Which makes me feel bad, as I can easily remember S’s too. It’s just J’s I’ve forgotten.

I wonder about that. Why, especially when you consider what J means to me, should I have forgotten so much about her life? I say it’s a bit of a blur, but in truth, I can barely remember anything before she was three.

You’re probably wondering why I say ‘especially’, as all my kids mean the world to me. But J is different. J’s the one I thought I’d lost.

Strange, but I suddenly feel foolish. I thought I’d lost her when she had an accident with a fridge, and that day has never left me. It’s hasn’t dimmed in the least, and even the merest thought of it brings tears to my eyes. But when I sit here trying to find the words to explain the accident, my reaction seems so melodramatic. After all, she walked away from it with just a scratch (unlike me, who ended up with pools of blood and gruesome scar!). Umm, I don’t think I can explain in a few paragraphs quite how much that day affects me, instead (if you’re interested,) you can read about the day here, as I wrote it up the same evening.

But I mustn’t turn this into anything less than a cheery birthday post. The point is, she changed the way I see my children, taught me not to take them for granted and to truly value their presence, whether happy or scowling, each and every day. And I’m endlessly grateful to her for that. And that she’s still here to giggle and be loved. I adore my baby girl, and she turned five today!

And what a day! I asked three of the mothers from school to come around with their kids (the usual crowd), and I also asked my BF who’s daughter is J’s BF, then another good friend called to say she want to pop in, so I invited her and hers too.

I really should have added the numbers first, as realising I had seventeen people for afternoon tea was a tad stressful as I fell asleep last night.

But it all went really well! More food than they could eat (with leftovers so I don’t have to make dinner tonight, Yippeee!!) S’s mini bouncy castle in the lounge keeping the littlest people happy, roller skates around the kitchen, computer games in R’s bedroom for the older boys, no tears from anyone, and smokers hiding in the office! It felt like a party, and once we get J’s proper party out the way in a couple of weeks, I’ve decided I won’t bother organising and paying for things more elaborate in future. Everyone seemed happy, and I know J had a wonderful day!




Ooops, better go! Seems S has eaten J’s new lipstick!!