My kids were essentially sick for an entire month last winter. I cleaned up more vomit in a month than I have in a lifetime and it’s a miracle that our son didn’t end up in the hospital dehydrated. Throughout the week, my wife Sarah and I shuffled our schedules so that we could take turns being with the kids while the other went to work, but eventually the Sunday morning alarm went off.

Father. Simple to become. Really hard to be…at least in the fullest and best sense of the word: a critical constituent in the raising (bringing up, rearing, nurturing, looking after, caring for, taking care of, providing for, tending, protecting, cherishing, education and training) of a child.