With the first grandchild on the way we are, of course, a little besotted.
As the father of three girls I wonder if this is the moment when the balance of nature will produce The Boy.
In France last week with friend Isabel in the back of the car she suddenly announced that she knew the sex of the child and pointed out to us four magpies grazing in the middle of a roundabout we were passing.
This , according to the version of Magpie counting we were taught in Cork , means :”Four for a Boy” (After one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl.)

She had no sooner said this when the clincher arriver in the form of a text message from the mother of the child.

“Was just looking out the window and saw four magpies on the lawn, it has just struck me what this means”

I think someone is trying to tell us something.