There’s a commitment that, once taken up, cannot be relinquished.

It is a unique, lifetime contract; and there is only one party to the agreement – your good self!

The nature of its demands, rewards and responsibilities will change over time, however, to some extent, a mother is always bound by the original terms.

There are broadly two grounds of responsibilities covered by the contract of motherhood, the elements of doing and the elements of being.

The doing bits include the manual labour tasks such as feeding; clothing and chauffeuring. These are the express terms; however don’t forget the implied terms, such as requirements for attendance at school concerts and other such social functions.

These tasks are readily identifiable, as like the household chores of cleaning and ironing, they can at times be contracted out to third parties, usually for a cash payment.

However, then we come to the being bits, which are far more tricky to define and perform; and absolutely impossible to quantify in monetary terms.

There’s the nurture aspect – which is far more the sum of the parts of feeding, clothing and general transportation. Nurturing includes creating a psychological space in which a child can feel safe, play and so grow; whilst you play the part of objective observer and positive, gentle guide.

This is a highly skilled, crucial aspect to the process, however I’ve yet to see it detailed in any job specification.

Then there’s the listening part…this is especially hard to apply, as it requires the qualities of patience, tolerance and acceptance; and at other times, quiet disapproval.

I‘ve yet to come across any training courses offered covering these invaluable skills.

Then there’s the intention part.

The what?

This bit is like the spirit of the agreement, the undercurrent that carries us through the journey of mother/father/parenthood.

This is like the whole basis of the contract – we agree (with ourselves) to create/produce/supply a being fit for purpose, with a satisfaction guarantee. However there is no returns or refund policy… This is quite possibly the hardest-to-keep part-of-the-bargain!

Consistent levels of unconditional positive regard are a non- negotiable requirement for this aspect of the contract.

And so to the consideration aspect...after all there is no contract without due consideration!

Just ensure you give yourself and your child(ren) as much consideration as possible prior to creating the clauses for the greatest transaction of your life.