On Parenting

God Sings Us Home

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Psalm 127:3

I guess in all our lives there are peak experiences and I always circle back to the night my kiddo, my daughter was born.

As she arrived her mother’s waters belatedly broke and she slipped out gleaming, little droplets akimbo. Cara displayed enormous pluck and endurance for the best part of a day, and suddenly the cherub was amongst us. It was in Torbay hospital, the hospital I’d been born in, and my father, and now there was this new one, this new life.

We were agog. The midwife allowed us some time together, then I was ushered out. I grabbed flowers from a 7 eleven, and stood in line to pay, grinning like a mad person and telling everyone what had happened, whether they enquired or not.

That night as I attempted to sleep I kept seeing the little baby girl. She seemed to have come from somewhere else entirely. From the mysteries of her mother’s tum certainly, but even further away than that. She popped out looking wise, like we were the children. From now on there was BD and AD – Before Dulcie, and after Dulcie. The next day I was back and, after navigating the complexity of the child-seat, we all drove home together. The new life was upon us.