As a father of nine, I’ve tried not to have a favourite, but John endangers that proposition. I’m close to all my children, but the two of us are extra- close. In a way, John has been like an only child. On the other hand, he’s part of a large family, though the others are much older. He has that odd advantage of the insularity of the single child, as well as the social sophistication of having grown up in a big family.
With nine kids, I was blasé about PTA meetings and never went to them. I was a selfish parent, but never at war with my children. There was no blow-out so awful that I remember going to bed angry with any of them. I can be scathing but I hope that I was never a frightening father.