As our children grow, it is a tough lesson to learn that their parents aren’t always going to be focusing on them - we aren’t always going to be available and that is okay

"Speaking to friends over the years, they have also said that at times their children find shifting gear from school to home life at the end of the day challenging."

'Of course the morning panic and rush will be back and all the chauffeuring to after-school activities, but I am thinking of all the benefits for children'

"I am a little embarrassed to admit that it has only been in the last year that I have been comfortable with her disappearing down another aisle in the shopping centre"

'Single children have always been presented to us as lonely and needy. This is a farce. They are so loved, so encouraged, and find close bonds elsewhere in life'

"I feel it is an inevitable fall out from the world as we know it changing, to put it lightly."

"Watching all of these female athletes, in so many sports, impressed upon my daughter Joan how amazing it is to be playing a sport or be part of a team."

"I couldn’t get over how amazing it felt, how light I felt in the water, how instantly energising it was..."

When Joan brought her books home from school I went through them and noticed how much of each book was left empty

Joan's low resilience says a lot more about my lack of patience than it does about her abilities