Princesseseses

Before I had kids, I always imagined I'd have boys. I have all brothers and Skip has two brothers (as well as a sister). I have three nephews and just one niece. So I just always assumed it would be boys for us.

When I had the 20-week scan and discovered that Lil-lil was a girl, I was delighted. I'm sure I would have been just as delighted if she'd been a boy, but that day we went out and joyfully bought a bundle of little pink clothes. I was equally surprised when I found out that Goosey was a girl. TWO little pink bundles! Sisters. Daughters. After growing up in a family where I was terribly outnumbered, finally the females were making a comeback.

Having brothers meant that I had to love all the girly stuff on my own. I was never allowed to watch Young Talent Time without ridicule. I often had to sit alone and play Barbies, tea parties and dolls.
I was often roped into playing British Bulldog and football, always on the proviso my team was called Candyland.

Now as the mum of two girls I have to admit that I love shopping for their birthdays, looking at all the pink, glittery, frilly things. I may roll my eyes, but secretly my hearts skips a little beat when I turn into the pink aisle at the toy shop. Seeing the girls play fairies and gasp in delight when they see a ballerina is pure joy. Asking Lil-lil what she wants to be when she grows up and hearing the answer: "An ambulance driver. No a princess. No a princess ambulance driver" is priceless.

When I was slightly older than Lil-lil, a young woman named Diana became a princess and I thought she was just about the most beautiful thing in the whole world. I named a doll after her and dreamed that I, too, would one day be princess as I wore my pink satin dressing gown, the most glamourous thing I'd ever owned.

It's not uncommon for Lil-lil to clasp her hands by her face and utter: "I love princesseseses" (those plurals can be hard when you're almost 4). As I write this she's watching Barbie 12 Dancing Princesses – Barbie playing one of 12 ballet-dancing princesses – a combination that doesn't get much better in her world.

I love my two little princesseseses and all the girly, frilly, glittery, pink bliss they bring.