Rachel At 10

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My daughter – my eldest child – turns 10 years old in a few days.

Of course, she’s precocious beyond her years. Ten going on teenager, really. But I think it’s fun when they’re this age to sit and reflect on their journey. After all, it’s been a decade.

I remember when she was a baby, I’d come home from work in the afternoon and go for a nap with her. I’m sure it started off as me giving her mum a break, but we’d ultimately settle on the bed and she would fall asleep in the crook of my arm. It was a standing arrangement.

Of course all of that was in a different house, fifteen miles away, a decade ago. So much has changed in the meantime. She’s had two brothers. She’s joined classes. She’s made friends.

I may be biased, but I think my little daughter has grown into a wonderful little person. She’s quick-witted, pedantic, hilarious. One of her recent things is to wind up her mum while winking furiously at me to show that she’s trying to get a reaction. But of course, the winking always results in a furious shaking of her head, so Lisa knows exactly what’s going on!

She loves my music. She’s been listening to old CDs of mine in the car – The Doors, Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi. Even Iron Maiden, but only for Flight Of Icarus. Because she’s made up her own nonsense lyrics to the song. When she heard that I’d agreed to play bass for a band recently, she was so excited that she told everybody in school and dogged me for days to find out what the band would be called.

Of all the things I love about the child, I think it’s just the relationship I have with her that’s just so much fun. She’s got my goofy sense of humour. When we had some friends round the other evening, one of them laughed at her jokes and said to me, “She’s just like you.” I might have blushed at the compliment.

Lisa sometimes frets about the speed the children are growing up at. With Rachel, a decade has passed in the blink of an eye. But it never worries me. How boring would it be if our children stayed the same age forever? Onward, upward to the next adventure! In two years she’ll be starting secondary school, and that’ll be a brand new world for her. She’s loving her dance classes at the moment, and she’s forever throwing herself into new things, learning and growing without even realising it. She’s just having fun.

For me, I just love spending time with this wonderful human being who makes me laugh and makes me proud and makes me feel fiercely protective at the same time. Oh, she can be frustrating sometimes and a downright diva at others, but I wouldn’t have her any other way. I’m looking forward to her growing older and watching all the mischief she gets up to. She really is a wonderful child. All of my kids are!

It’s been a brilliant 10 years, Rachel. I’m looking forward to another decade of silly jokes, catty comments and lots of love and fun! Happy Birthday, Girlpants!