Joanna Fortune: I worry my young children are missing out because I'm so tired 

When our children greet us with pleas of ‘play with me’, they are asking us to ‘connect with me’. This is how they reunite with us after the prolonged separation of our work day and their childcare day.

Pic: iStock

My new job is stressful and demanding. I’m exhausted when I pick up my two children — aged one and three —from the childminder. Of course, they want to play with me and have cuddles but I’ve so much to do before their bedtime, I tend to give them the bare minimum — 15 minutes. They seem to be happy with this arrangement, but I feel they are missing out on a proper childhood.

This is the most common thing I hear from busy working parents in my clinical practice. It’s been said so often over the years that it formed the basis of my 15-Minute Parenting programme, advocating quality over quantity time together.