A new face, taken slowly

Wariness around strangers is usually one of the first of these big feelings to arrive — so a face that closes up at the door is the feeling doing its work, not a mood anyone has to apologise for. Nothing here makes it go away, and nothing here is trying to. This is only a way of letting a new person arrive slowly, from the safe side of your arms, with no handover at the end unless your baby asks for one.

🛡️ Anything a new person offers passes your check rather than theirs: one solid piece, bigger than a toilet-roll tube, nothing on a cord, ribbon or lanyard. If a handover does happen it happens sitting down, with the other person already settled — never standing, never on the move, and never while they are holding a hot drink. A visitor who is unwell says hello from across the room; that is not rudeness, and at this age it is worth the awkwardness.