My first born--Jennifer

Jennifer came into the world on a Saturday evening in May 1975. She had a mop of dark hair and a terrific set of lungs. If I'm honest here, she wasn't much trouble as a baby and seemed to spend most of her time smiling. Although she had no trouble talking she was a late mover. It was great, even at 18 months old I could put her on the floor, leave the room and when I came back she would still be in the same place. Then she learnt to do the bottom shuffle and nothing was safe.

click on to enlarge

By the time she was three we were living in a small town in Kent right next to a beach and even in the winter we would go there every day. The funniest thing was watching her trying to walk through the snow covered sand in her wellie boots. She had the most gorgeous big brown eyes and when she looked at somebody she could melt their heart. Her eyes earned her several free rides on the merry-go-round and a packet of sweets every week in the newsagents. She would stand next to the roundabout when another child was on it and the parents would take pity on her and put her on too. At home she was a proper little helper, if I left a cup on the floor she would take it to the kitchen and then come back and scold me. Sometimes she was more grown up than me.

We moved back to Plymouth where she took to pre-school like a duck to water and made loads of friends. She was always being invited to one birthday party or another, so much so that when her birthday came around I had to have a party for her to reciprocate. She started school in Nov.79 and soon learnt to read and write. She surprised me one day by reading a story to me instead of vice versa.

In 1980 I married for the second time and overnight Jennifer had two older sisters. They all got on well together and looked out for each other at school. There was a lot of turmoil in our lives at this time, the girls changed schools and we moved house but through it all Jennifer never lost her smile. She passed the 11+ exam and was accepted at high school. She found the work hard but seemed to cope and then we moved again.

This time we went 300 miles to Essex and she had to get used to another school. She was interested in drama and childcare. Ever since Laura was born, Jennifer knew that she wanted to work with children so when school finished it was off to college to study for the NNEB. She passed this and has the certificate to prove it! Unfortunately she never had the chance to use it as she met a boy in Plymouth and moved back there to be with him. Within a year she was pregnant and Joe was born in 1994. Now she is married to his daddy and they still live in Plymouth.

click on to enlarge

When Jennifer was growing up we never really had any problems with her, they all came later. Obviously she went through the usual teenage angsts, spots, young love etc but we could always talk things through and resolve any problems. Only once did I catch her doing something naughty. I came downstairs very quietly to find her with her hand in the cake tin sharing out the buns between her and Laura. Her face was a picture when she saw me and I never had the heart to tell her off, in fact I had to leave the room to laugh. I'm not saying she was a perfect child but the only mischief she got into was harmless and normal.

We never bothered decorating her bedroom, she had so many posters up that it would have been a waste of time. Wham were rapidly followed by Bros and New Kids on the Block. Even at 17 she had Take That plastered everywhere. Many is the time Mike or I had to take her to London to see a concert or just to stand outside the hotel where someone was staying.