Historic moment for little winner

There I was, behind my computer in my study at home, when I heard a scream that froze my blood. My brain said run, but my legs refused. Lead is not the word.

No, I was wearing concrete boots bolted to the floor. Two lifetimes and at least a few dozen grey hairs later, I managed to stumble down the stairs, three at a time. By the time I reached the baby room, my glasses were completely fogged up as I was sweating pure adrenalin. And then I saw it, too, and screamed! My little Olive had learnt to crawl. She was on her hands and knees, following the example set by Nanny Q.

My wife and little Olive’s mother were jumping up and down, screaming and laughing and crying with joy all at once. What a commotion. And then, out came the phones. This was a moment in history begging to be recorded.

First, she was filmed head-on, crawling towards the camera. Then from above, and so it continued. Every single conceivable camera angle was covered until, finally, mother and grandmother decided that they had captured the perfect video of little Olive’s “first” crawl.

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But the reality is, that was probably the fifth take. The rest of the afternoon was spent taking turn crawling with her, giving her time to catch her breath, and then repeating the exercise. Only later did I realise the implication of the whole event. We hadn’t just recorded a momentous occasion in little Olive’s life, we had also edited her history as it was happening.

Winston Churchill once said: “History is written by victors.” It obviously implies that history is not rooted in facts but that it is rather the winner’s interpretation of events that prevails. It is often the winners who have the means to control the narrative.

While my little Olive’s first forward motion on hands and knees was a victorious moment, we will forever show not her first attempt, but her best. After all, she is a little winner.