To my avid readers (who have been wondering where my timely two-cents have gone), I offer my apologies. I’ve been preoccupied – indeed, I have become father to a little girl.

As someone who has an ear for platitudes, stereotypes, clichés, and banalities, fatherhood is one case where I found that almost all the tea-towel truisms are actually correct, hitting me with more emotional force than I had anticipated.

Perhaps the strongest instinct is the urge to protect my daughter.