On the X Factor UK, a young man got four yeses after singing beautifully. He ran out to meet his mum and picked her up in a joyful embrace. The transitions in life are just so amazing.

I remember holding Nathan in my arms shortly after his birth and all the times I carried him as he grew. Then he began to use me as a yardstick to track his progress. He would say, ‘Mummy, now I’m at your chest, very soon I’ll be at your neck, then I’ll be at the top of your head’. My usual response is ‘yes please, grow tall, that’s the plan… one of the reasons I married your father’.

Some months back I began to struggle to maintain my balance each time he rushed out to greet me. I had to ask him not to jump on me anymore because he was getting too big and could end up hurting me. Thankfully, we’ve settled into a new regime of more careful hugs and my perspective on the matter stopped at the reality that sometime in the near future, I will no longer be able to carry my children.

This event on X-Factor was quite an eye opener for me, a picture of things to come. The thought that in years to come, when he’s all excited and wants to celebrate with me, he’ll be the one picking me up. It’s such a beautiful thing but is also a caution. Will our kids treat us tomorrow the same way we treated them yesterday? If all we do to them today can be counted as seeds sown, what kind of harvest should we expect? This is something to think about.