It is dramatic the shift from working full time to being at home with your babies. A precious experience, and one I could never hand over to any nanny or childminder. I love seeing my babies change daily and grow more and more excited by my presence. If there is anything to make you feel really, really special, it is your baby’s beaming smile.

But this is not to say that I don’t think longingly about work, surprising as it may sound for those still tortured by their daily grind. Applying your mind to a task, planning it carefully, and seeing it through is, in retrospect, the easily controlled, quickly satisfying reality of having a job. Your working days (mostly) follow an expected shape. You buy your coffee in the morning, browse through emails, deal with a few colleagues, perhaps meet a client, walk out for lunch, go slow at your desk whilst digesting, take a back seat in a meeting, get excited about a new project, think about wrapping up for the day, and over and over and over. What’s more, however long your hours, you are at liberty at some point to go home and slump in front of the TV.

My new days are chaotic and full of plans that are half seen through or given up on for want of letting the baby sleep a bit longer. There is no going home at the end of the day, or slumping for more than a minute or two. In this new order, or lack of it, I realise I must give myself fully to one sole purpose – keeping my babies happy and thriving. This is my current full time job, my interest, my desire. Each day, and new stage of development is a project, and successes, such as a baby joyfully seizing and shaking a rattle for the first time or sleeping an extra half hour at night, are to be celebrated just in the same way as the well struck deal or challenging sale.

So here’s to tonight.