Over the following weeks, we simply got used to being girls at home and boys at school, even if we did wear knickers beneath our school pants… it just became the ‘new’ normal. Even all the girlie programmes on She-Beebies weren’t that bad, apart from the Sindy Princess Cartoon Show; that was dreadful, from the jerky animation and squeaky voices to the watered down reworkings of classic fairy tales. We’ve spent a lot of time at our grandmothers house over the weekends. She has a big garden with high walls and no-one can see in. We play croquet and swing ball, hopscotch and balloon volley ball. We’re also learning how to skip with a rope, and to play those clapping games. Yes they’re a bit girlie… but at least were not being given dolls and prams to play with. Mum continued to encourage us to play out with our friends but without the option of boy clothes, we only see them at school where our petticoated state is unknown to all but our teacher, Mrs Brown.
However, our secret life was shattered in the first week of the summer holidays. Peter and I were sat in our bedroom practicing a clapping game to the rhyme of ‘A Sailor Went To Sea, Sea, Sea’. We wore lilac dresses with little pink bows printed all over the fabric, and a wide pink sash that tied in a bow at the back. Unbeknown to us, John, Michael and Stephen came knocking and instead of sending them away, Mum sent them all up to our bedroom. As soon as they saw us in our ‘princess’ bedroom, sat on our pink bedspreads, wearing pretty dresses, thin white tights and girl’s shoes, they fell about laughing, calling us sissies, puffs and girls. On hearing the commotion, Mum came up to our room and said, “Now boys if you can’t be nice to Peter and Paul, then you’re not welcome.”