When Bridget and I married 40 years ago we did little planning as far as family was concerned. I am not talking about contraception, although I have to confess that our risible efforts in that department were as inept, inaccurate and poorly judged as everything else. We had four children and only one and a half of them were actually planned. No, I’m talking about such trivial things as ethos, standards, quality of life and moral outlook. I suppose we assumed we would muddle through somehow and, with God solidly on our side, it was bound to turn out more or less okay in the end. Of course, like many other childless couples, we gravely agreed on one or two specifics that never survived the arrival of real flesh-and-blood kids.

Popular author Adrian Plass starts his own ‘ideal home’ series for Families First from his new home in Yorkshire. Subscribe to Families First to read the whole article.