Cygnets

The cygnets have generated a lot of admiring glances from my fellow river walkers.

It is hard not to be captivated by their inherent serenity, beauty and elegance, which would be a wonderful gift for any parent to pass down to their child.

Also, like most parents, the swans are fiercely protective of their young – apart from one I saw the other night which had left its cygnets to swim up fast flowing water by themselves. It was not going well, but we call this “character building”.

I’m no different in this regard in letting my brood swim against the flow sometimes and as much as my children can frustrate, antagonise and be incredibly noisy and smelly, I love them with every inch of my being because they are also kind, loving, incredibly noisy, bonkers and good fun.

Whilst I am coming out the other side of a difficult period, I am almost grateful for the experience as I have shaken the need for medication – Lindt Intense Orange aside – I am peace with myself (for the most part), but most importantly I have formed a deeper, stronger connection with all of my children and - shamelessly stealing from Jack Nicholson - they “make me want to be a better man”.

Additionally, my cygnets have clearly inherited my beauty (tongue firmly in cheek) and elegance (tongue bursting through cheek), but it looks like we’ve a little way to go on the serenity.

“I guess two out of three ain’t bad…”