Esme’s Life as a Ten-Year-Old by Vicki Baxter

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Esme’s Life as a Ten-Year-Old by Vicki Baxter

Meet Esme. The girl with two houses, but not because she is super rich, but because her parents are divorced.

Esme talks about growing up with her younger sister, juggling school, hobbies, pets and two very different parenting styles.

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A funny and truthful story, sharing a roller coaster ride of the life of a ten-year-old.

My Review

Life through the eyes of a ten-year-old. That’s Esme! Her take on her family’s situation is funny, poignant and very well observed. There is no anger or bitterness – it is what it is. She is very philosophical for one so young.

Esme’s mother is stricter and more organised than her dad. No screens while eating (I wish – tell that to my ten-year-old granddaughter), regular bedtimes and up early (Mum is always early – dad is always late) and ready for school. But they have a rabbit called Muffin, so it’s all good! They have two guinea pigs too. Esme’s is Pancake and younger sister Hattie’s is called Syrup. We had a dog called Pancake, so I’m with Esme on the name choice.

Their dad is more disorganised. But while Esme and her sister love them both, her mum and dad were always going to clash. Different personalities – different parenting styles. When they lived together they were always arguing, though Hattie doesn’t remember as she’s too young. “Mum still gets irritated by the fact he stores his motorbike and surf boards in the lounge.” I’m not surprised!

“Dad’s house is always trashed, he says it is us and that we make all the mess, but it isn’t just that. Mum is always tidy and makes us sort our toys and bedroom out, so it is nice when we are at Dad’s because we just throw all our clothes on the floor and leave all our stuff out and he doesn’t care.”

There’s also a lot about school. The sex education class is very funny.

“The nurse asked us to volunteer to draw a boy’s private parts on the board and one of the boys did it so big, it was really funny. We were taught how to check our breasts for lumps, which can be caused by cancer. The lady had knitted boobs for that bit and was squeezing them, we were all laughing, she had lots of knitted body parts.”

If you have children of this age (or grandchildren), you’ll love this book. My younger son is divorced, though his children are much younger than Esme, and they don’t remember mum and dad living together. Children are very adaptable, particularly if separated parents don’t play one off against the other. Esme’s parents are pretty good at that side of things.

I just have one question. Who is Uncle Monkey? I know he’s Esme’s godfather, but please tell me why he’s called Uncle Monkey? Thank you.

Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Vicki Baxter lives by the Cornish coast with her two daughters. Following her graduation with a Leisure Management and Sports degree, Vicki has experienced a varied career as a tennis coach, prison custody officer and sales representative in the confectionery market. Vicki works four days a week and enjoys using her day off writing, cold water sea swimming and exercising. Vicki’s previous publications include a rhyming picture and activity book called Our World and Me. A children’s fantasy story called The Hatteme Tales (illustrated by Caz Banks and narrated by Kate Stebbing-Allen). A book about her previous work experience called Incarcerated – A Young Offender
Institute Through the Eyes of an Officer, and a selection of poetry in various books.

Vicki’s inspiration to start writing came from composing poems for her friends at secondary school. This led to her Nan suggesting she enter one of them into a competition. The Perfect Wave was a success and was published in a poetry collection. Writing has become a passion and something to give to her daughters as they grow up and have their own families.