Small children do not see nearly enough of their parents, and the basic social skills, which a generation ago were passed on to children by their mothers, are almost completely missing. We are now seeing a generation of socially inept children, many of whom are in childcare five days a week and go home to exhausted parents who have just about enough energy to put them to bed.
Moreover, many parents rely on the school or the childcare facility to provide a cooked meal in the middle of the day. As one mother so succinctly put it to me when we were unable to serve a cooked lunch for a week, 'I do not see why, as a working mother, I should have to provide a cooked meal in the evening for the children.'
Social skills such as making friends or eating with a knife and fork (or even a spoon) are skills that we as childcarers have to teach. Even sitting at a table for a meal is a complete mystery for some children. As for replying when spoken to, or saying good morning to staff when they come in, their mothers don't even prompt them.
Most parents use television as an entertainment tool and quickly progress to computers. These in no way compensate for a family meal and bedtime story, which is the right of all children.
Guilt drives parents to buy ever-larger presents. I know of one child who was given a present every time she was collected from nursery (five times a week). I know of another who was brought to nursery naked except for a blanket (even in February when there was snow) - because he had flatly refused to put on any clothes. I know of another three-year-old who is driven unsecured in the car because he refuses to sit in his car seat.
And we think that we have out-of-control teenagers now? Just wait ten years - we will certainly have them then.
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