cake

I had an interesting idea last night. For some reason, I was thinking of what it might have been like if Matthew had been born a normal, healthy baby (not a line of thought I usually travel these days - over the years I've come to accept what is, and to value the changes in my life that came about only because he was who he was). I thought of the person I was then, of the mother I was set to become, and I thought there was every chance I'd have gone down a parenting path Lou wouldn't have wanted to follow.

And then I thought of a metaphor for our family that really amused me. If Lou and I are two layers of cake (chocolate and lemon, I think), then Matthew is the raspberry filling that cements us together. Greyson is the rich buttercream icing; Charles the inventive decorations; and Veronica the exotic flowers that complete the presentation. I find those roles entirely apt, and highly entertaining. And now I'm hungry for cake.