Being a parent means you’re never quite your own person again – but that self-sacrifice can pull off a miracle

‘If the self-sacrifice of parents in general and mothers in particular goes unrewarded, I find it strangely consoling that God gets how that feels.’ Composite: Nenov/Getty Images

I believe power trips and parenting should never mix, so I freaked out when the early childhood nurse told me that to my baby boy, I was a “goddess”. She meant he was dependent on me for everything, so I had to be everything to him, come what may. But the life divine didn’t come easily to me: my boy didn’t sleep much, so I didn’t either.

A decade on, I’ve seen the light. The nurse was right all along: parenting is a God gig. You don’t need to be a believer for something miraculous to happen when you become a parent: you go about becoming the god you don’t believe in, and your child’s personal guarantee that the world is a welcoming place.