Cradling my baby son in one arm while trying to type on the laptop with the other hand – an unwieldy kerfuffle that’s as awkward as Admiral Nelson attempting to change the bed sheets on HMS Victory during a raging tempest – I suddenly had a thought. Not a very meaningful thought but a thought nevertheless.
In the animal kingdom, I reflected, a gazelle can shoogle and totter itself on to its feet within minutes of being born and can burst into a life-saving jouk after an hour or so at the first whiff of a lurking pack of shrieking Hyenas hell bent on devouring it.
As for the early stages of human existence? Well, we can’t even burp without some form of back-patting assistance let alone leg it from mortal danger. Funnily enough, the winding process of a young ’un remains broadly equivalent to the tried and tested method the sports editor employs to cajole a column out of me on a weekly basis.
