It should be a magical time. You sit on the edge of your sleepy child’s bed, tucking the soft duvet around their little shoulders and stroking their still baby-like hair. You’ve read them a chapter of their favourite story, perhaps heard a little something about their day. But as your lean down to kiss their forehead and wish them goodnight, you hear those doom-laden words.

“Daddy, I’m not feeling very well.”

You want to be sympathetic, to reassure the blessed child that you’ll be there to look after them, to attend their every need. You want them to know that your only concern is their well-being, and that you’ll be by their side until they are fully recovered.

And yet you can’t deny that your instinct is to think about the meeting you can’t miss in the office tomorrow, or the class yo

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