I went to my local Sure Start centre, and they put me on a

When Angela Rayner declared: “I went to my local Sure Start centre, and they put me on a parenting course. I learned things that might seem simple — that it was important to hug and love your child, and read to them. This might seem obvious, but it wasn’t to me at the time,” she revealed a truth both humbling and powerful: that parenting is not always instinct, but often a skill that must be learned, taught, and nurtured. Her words are not confessions of weakness, but of courage — the courage to admit ignorance, to seek wisdom, and to embrace growth for the sake of her child.

The origin of this saying lies in Rayner’s own youth, for she became a mother as a teenager, facing the great burden of raising a child without the guidance many take for granted. The Sure Start centre, created in the United Kingdom to support families with young children, became for her not merely a service, but a place of transformation. There, she discovered truths that sound simple but are in fact the bedrock of parenting: the power of a hug, the necessity of love expressed openly, and the immeasurable impact of reading to a child. These things, which seem obvious to some, were for her revelations — and in this, her story teaches us that even the simplest acts can hold the greatest power.

Throughout history, countless parents have learned their craft not from books or mentors, but from necessity and trial. Consider the tale of Spartacus, who, though remembered as a gladiator and rebel, was first a man stolen from his home, torn from family and kin. What he must have carried, had he been a father, was not wisdom passed down gently, but the harshness of survival. His children, had he raised them, would have known both love and hardship forged in fire. So too with Rayner: the absence of guidance left gaps, but through humility and learning, she filled those gaps with the tools to raise her children in love rather than only in struggle.

The heart of Rayner’s reflection lies in its paradox: the simplest truths of hugging, loving, and reading are the very truths most easily overlooked in the chaos of survival. To feed, to clothe, to shelter — these are duties visible and urgent. But to pause, to embrace, to whisper stories by candlelight — these are duties invisible, yet essential. They nurture not only the body but the soul. For a child who is hugged learns security; a child who is loved openly learns worth; a child who is read to learns imagination and language, opening doors that last a lifetime.

Her words also speak to the power of seeking help. Many believe that parenting should be instinctual, that to ask for guidance is shameful. Yet Rayner’s example shows the opposite: the greatest strength is in admitting what one does not know and being willing to learn. In this humility lies transformation, and in that transformation lies the gift of a better future for the child. Just as the ancient philosophers gathered in schools to learn the art of virtue, so too must parents sometimes gather to learn the art of raising the next generation.

The lesson here is clear: never dismiss the power of the simple things, and never fear to seek wisdom when you lack it. Parenting is not a path of perfection, but of learning. Even the smallest acts — a hug at the right moment, a word of encouragement, a story shared at night — can shape the destiny of a child. The grandeur of palaces or riches cannot replace the warmth of consistent love. It is not the complexity of methods, but the constancy of affection, that forms a strong foundation.

Practical actions must follow: parents, commit yourselves to daily acts of love. Hug your children even when the day has been hard. Speak your love aloud, for unspoken love often goes unseen. Read with them, not only to teach, but to journey together into worlds of imagination. And above all, do not hesitate to seek support when you falter — from courses, from communities, from mentors. To do so is not to fail, but to grow.

So let Angela Rayner’s words echo as wisdom to future generations: that even the smallest acts of love are mighty, and that the greatest strength lies in admitting what you do not know, and then learning it for the sake of your child. For in parenting, as in life, it is not the perfection of the parent that matters most, but the willingness to evolve, to love, and to rise, again and again, with the child in your arms.