Of our three children, Kara is the one who most throws herself headlong into the many experiences life has to offer.
It’s not just the fearlessness that comes from still being relatively young. There’s a sense of adventure that neither of her brothers has to anywhere near the same extent, and an intense joie de vivre about the way she wholeheartedly embraces new experiences. In a family with a marked tendency to react rationally rather than emotionally, she is the one who most wears her heart on her sleeve and lives in the moment. Right here, right now is what it’s all about for her.
After that somewhat laboured segue, Kara didn’t actually watch Fatboy Slim’s set at Camp Bestival last weekend – he was on too late even for the girl who could give the Energizer bunny a run for its money – but she did love her first taste of live festival music.
On Sunday evening, she jumped up on to my shoulders and we hovered at the back of the crowd watching Bananarama as she bounced up and down, cheering and clapping between songs and even picking up the chorus of Robert De Niro’s Waiting and singing along with me.
I’m not sure I ever imagined fatherhood involving listening to my four-year-old daughter shouting out “talking Italian” over and over again at the top of her voice. But it’s the little moments of joy such as this which she will hopefully remember when she grows up. And it’s a reminder to me not to dwell on the past or worry about the future too much. There’s way too much fun to be had with Kara (and her brothers) right here, right now.
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