When you sign up for parenting, no one warns you about how excruciating it can be when one of your children has zero school commitments, leaving the other defiantly refusing to attend her preschool.

She shrieked indignantly. She whined piteously for her mummy. She lay on my lap, kicking her legs vigorously. She put up a more robust defence than the boys’ soccer team at my son’s primary school.

In the end, she conceded reluctantly, tears welling in her eyes. Her arms went limp. She requested me to hug her. Embraced me tightly like letting go was the last thing she wanted to do.

There you have it: the joy and pain of parenting mingled in one solid hug.