10.55pm

On February 6th 2000 i gave birth to my baby Maddy. She’s a little bit special to me, because she is the only one i can say that about and really feel i mean it – and she’s a little bit special for her Maddyness too.

Today she is a little bit special because she is now the proud owner of a blue Sporticus skateboard, blue skateboarding stuff that will constantly get lost will protect her elbows and knees, a cute blue monkey and a set of Mecchano that makes cars, trucks, helicopters and so on. As Max said last night, he didn’t think the cashier at Toys R Us would have imagined the recipient to be a girl… and i love her for that. She is thrilled with it all, and humoured me by loving the blue monkey i connived out of a trade show stand, and was very understanding that the 2 things (tiny things) she wanted didn’t arrive through the post on time.

We’ve spent the day watching swirling snow, playing out, watching films, doing Mecchano and latterly going out for dinner which was lovely, if nearly spoiled by a bunch of kids who have learned their social skills in the local primary school and therefore think terrifying 4-9 year olds with verbal and physical abuse while 10 foot up in the air is acceptable. I was staggered that their parents didn’t care, even when the staff were having to physically step in, staggered to be stopped from going into the play area when my 4yo was trapped at the top crying (because i was too tall!) and horrified by the way these kids were behaving. If those are the social skills my kids are failing to learn in school, i can only say thank god for that. At least, if not perfect (would being aggressive back be better? I was always told so), the middle 2 had the sense to leg it and find me and Fran (bless her) huddled round Josie at the top and waited for it to stop.

Ah well.

Darling Maddy; now you are 9. Beautiful, thoughtful, creative, kind, gentle, generous, individual, sensitive, fragile, ingenious, passionate, intense. All those things and many more. Most of all, you love the colour blue and you love to be you – and in this house, we love you for that 🙂