OK, so I know this is very late, but I figured better late than never. I may be wrong. We shall see.

So, 20 years ago today I was 11 years old. Just. Which means I’d've been in Year 6, although we definitely did not call it Year 6 back then, it was Top Juniors. Makes you feel much more important.

Around this time of year the school nativity started getting under way. Being somewhat blonde-haired and blue-eyed, I had been privileged to play a starring role in pretty much every nativity play since my school career started, playing Mary or Gabriel almost every year, despite the fact that I would put money on Mary being neither blonde-haired nor blue-eyed, and Gabriel being male, but tradition is a very powerful thing.

However, this year, I was to play Marcus. Who? I hear you ask. You know, Marcus. That well-known character in the Christmas story. To be honest, I don’t remember the full details of the part but it involved wearing burgundy corduroy pedal-pushers and carrying a tray with an ornate gold coffee set on it. I think I was King Herod’s servant, and heard about the baby Jesus (“my favourite Jesus”) from the Wise Men, and then proceeded to go to Bethlehem to see said baby. Anyway, small part, you might think, but for some reason my teacher at the time was under the impression that I could sing, so all of a sudden, this obscure role became yet another starring role, involving solos and and allsorts. Yep, there were definitely times when I was that kid that everyone loved to hate! Fortunately, it didn’t last beyond Primary School – by the time I turned 12 there were many more teacher’s pets than me!

I’m sure I was doing an awful lot more when I was 11 than singing solos in school plays, but life was pretty straight-forward then, and there wasn’t much of any excitement to be had in Taunton, although I must admit I will have been having some good times fighting, I mean, playing, no, I do mean fighting with my little sister.

All in all, I think I prefer being 31. There is a lot less solo-singing, and many fewer fights with my sister, although I do miss those corduroy pedal-pushers…

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