From the faint pink line of the pregnancy test to the moment the house empties out again, it's a breath's distance, mostly uphill. With many different and necessary steps. Painful steps at that.

As we climb the stairs in the parent-child relationship, we enjoy it more. More tired, more mature, and more aware. In repetitions, we start with momentum and confidence, only to stumble, because the second, the twin, or the third child brings a different staircase to climb. And we begin again. With knowledge, yes, but also a need for flexibility.

A book for parents in action, for contemplative parents, and for aspiring ones. A climb, with small moments of guilt-free pauses. To rest our guilt and give it a more useful tone. To realize that we are not alone, yet we are alone. Because others have gone through it too, but each of us will find our own way in our own space and time, with our own partners in the ascent.

Above all, there comes observation. Of everything that happens to us as soon as we become parents and of what lies beneath it, carefully hidden. There is information, developmental needs. What we do with it is a personal matter. There are wrong ways and right ways. And then there are the others. Those that arise in real families and have a bit of everything.

Happy climbing. Enjoy it.