April 2. Day 92. Baby look at me

I got to hold a new-born baby today, all pink and perfect.

I marvelled at his soft folds of skin and at the way his little face screwed up when he yawned.

His tiny little fingers and toes just made me want to goo and gaa. I couldn't resist sniffing him and breathing in that delightful baby scent. This is nature's way of flicking a switch in your brain and making you forget in an instant all those less than perfect things about parenting a new born.

And then I got to hand the perfect little angel back to his mum and go back to the reality of being the parent of a teenager. So if hormones and scent and soft pink perfectly formed digits get you through the baby years, what exactly is nature's way of cushioning the blow of the teenager?! Perhaps it's earplugs and antidepressants (she says, only half joking). But I know it's not true. At this stage it is the glimpses that all that potential you saw in your own little bundle is on the verge of maturing into a full-blown adult. It's seeing the social conscience or the political awareness or the inquisitive brain being put to good use. Or it's enjoying the same TV shows, or theatre or books. Or it's debating the news of the day. And today it was seeing my teen again in his element on stage performing at a Fame Theatre Company show. This was the 12th year in a row I've seen the first term show and I reckon by now I almost know the moves that accompany the theatre company's signature tune which always ends the show. But it never gets old. And no matter how old they get you are still their mum (even if the teen version in not something you would voluntarily sniff).

Yep as the song says "baby look at me"