The children are on half term at the moment so as usual, today I was trying to think of low cost activities to stop the ‘I’m bored’ chorus.
So we came up with the idea of making toffee apples. As we watched the sugar boil and turn a golden brown and quickly dunked the apples in the hot, sweet liquid, my thoughts, as usual, turned to birth.
I thought of the conversation I overheard in the maternity ward a few months ago – two members of staff were complaining about women who ‘care more about their birth experience than the baby’. That phrase has been bothering me ever since.
Do women really care more about the sweet sugar coating than the apple inside?
You can’t have a toffee apple without a perfect apple – healthy, ripe and ready to be eaten.
You can’t have a toffee apple without the sweet, crisp coating of crunchy sugar; lifting the apple to sublime heights of delight – tasting all the better for being homemade and eaten with smiles of pleasure in the bosom of your family.
I don’t think I’ll labour this analogy any further, but do give me your thoughts. Happy half term.
