Back to the Noise

A tiny lesson on what matters

23:40pm, New York

It’s a hot, September evening in New York. The kind where the air sits still, humming with distant laughter from parks and the whirl of lime bikes whizzing around. I’m writing this in the back of a yellow cab, on my way home to the hotel work put us up in for the 3 weeks we’ve been here filming.

Earlier today, Jack’s phone pinged with a message from his brother, Toby:

“How do you feel about babysitting?
If you’re even free.
Will be from about 7pm and think we’ll be back around 12.30.”

Despite the lack of childcare experience (especially a 3 month old), we committed to it. To support Toby and Taya’s first night away from their first born was a privilege - and we couldn’t have them miss Oasis (tickets I think they've had since before the baby was born).

Our brief was simple but terrifying: keep their darling baby alive and vaguely content for approx 5hrs. She’d never been away from her mum before, so the stakes were high. After a quick crash course in nappy-changing and bot…