CHILD'S PLAY

With half the country thrown into lockdown this year, most of us have been forced into finding unique ways to beat the blues. And what better remedy than to reconnect with your inner child? With fun and freedom high on the agenda, three writers set about reviving their favourite childhood hobbies

RACHEL, 47 When my daughter Evangeline told me that the only thing she wanted for her eighth birthday was a pair of retro roller skates (because, despite not having a phone, she’d seen cool girls doing it on TikTok), I was overjoyed. While she would never know the naffindoor rinks, flashing disco lights, preservative-laden red slushies (over my dead body, child) and scuffed grey hire skates that filled my tween years, the idea of her feeling the fun-factor of zipping around on eight wheels – away from rectangular screens and social pressures – was a huge yes for me. They arrived the day before her birthday, in all their white and glittered blue wheel glory, but what I didn’t know until she unboxed them the next morning was that I’d accidentally bought adult rather than child sized. “You should keep them, Mummy,” she said graciously as I scrambled to express order her replacement. They weren’t the semi-pro slick blackand-yellow speed skates I’d received for my own 13th birthday (OMG, why didn’t I keep them!) but still cute and totally nostalgic. Maybe it’s because I’m a grownup now, but I didn’t think twice about being a 40-something wannabe roller girl. Unlike the self-conscious, fashion-obsessed naysayer of my 20s and 30s, I have no-one to impress now other than myself (and my kids, of course, and occasionally their dad).

We both started on the public tennis court at the end of our street, Evie learning, me praying for some kind of muscle memory. For the record, it’s not like riding a bike, but I wasn’t exactly a baby giraffe either.