Now we are Six :-)

On my sixth birthday I was given a book of poems by A.A Mills called "Now we are Six" and I remember reading the very last poem, which is aimed specifically at six year-olds, and thinking that six years was enough for me, that "now that I'm six I'm as clever as clever, so I think I'll be six now forever and ever" (yes I can still quote the poem even though the book has disappeared off my bookshelf - sad times) LOL. I guess it was the first poem to ever speak to me directly and I always wanted it to refer to me, a six-year old. Another reason for not wanting to grow up anymore, was that six was older than five, which meant I was now most definitely "a big-girl" therefore there was no need to get any bigger! I went to school, I was starting to read BIG books like that of Dick-King Smith's "Lady Daisy", I had two younger brothers who would willing dress up in tutus and tunics and put on plays with me, I was no longer riding my pink bike with stabilisers - I had a brand new purple one :-), I could buy clothes from the "older girls" section in Adams, I had satin ballet shoes instead of leather ones and a red badge on my purple ballet skirt, I had plenty of time to spend dancing round my living room the "The Nutcracker" and "Copellia" soundtrack pretending that I was a prima-ballerina dancing in front of a huge audience, I was in year 2, which meant I could have a BIG part in the Nativity play AND I was learning to play the piano - SERIOUSLY life was good (!)

I always think it's strange to look back on yourself as kid, cos part of you wishes you had the time to play games and put on living-room shows and just generally enjoy every minute of every day; and then the other half remembers how frustrated you used to feel, or I used to feel, about always being dependent and in the authority of adults. Don't get me wrong, I was a PROPER goody-two-shoes, but I was also incredibly bossy, incredibly messy and ALWAYS knew better than my father :-) hmmm, some things never change! But yeah, I guess I like being the age I am now because I'm independent...but still a little bit dependent. What I do find strange is thinking about what I would have done if I had known, at six years old, that I would leave bracknell, ballet school and wildridings shops to live in Germany, that in 7 years time my home-life would be turned upside down...crazy. So yeah, I was trying to get to sleep one night and that poem about being six came into my head and I just remembered not wanting to grow up, I still don't REALLY want to grow up now :-(