1 How do I stop feeling guilty about not being the perfect parent?

Working mum, stay-at-home mum or part-time working mum? You can’t win. If you’re at work, you might feel guilty for leaving your kids in childcare. If you’re at home, maybe you feel bad that you’re not showing them how to have a career. Or (very likely) you’re sick of pushing Thomas the Tank Engine around the floor for the 100th time. If you work part-time you have the worst of both worlds!

The reality is it’s hard to be the perfect parent all the time. But we’re only human, we don’t have endless patience, sometimes we shout, sometimes we don’t say the right thing, sometimes we truly suck. It’s OK for children to see your flaws – they need to realise that you can’t always be at their beck and call. Besides, the fact that you’re feeling guilty in the first place is testament to the fact that you’re trying your best.

Top Tip Parental guilt seems to be a modern thing. My mum says she didn’t feel anywhere near the pressure: no internet, no celebrity mums to live up to – you just got on with it.