From the school pick up, to the after-school taxi service to clubs and sports, to the dinner rush – how do they manage?

Every day, millions of mums around the country head to the school gates straight from work or a day of numerous chores and tasks at home to pick up their little darlings, but while they may have been up since six and working hard all day, it’s more than likely that the hardest part of their day starts after 3pm.

By the time mum’s taxi service turns into mum’s café – full of picky and demanding customers – mums have been at the beck and call of their kids for hours. And a new study shows that it reaches fever-pitch during dinner time with nearly half of all parents saying they spend anywhere between half an hour and an hour preparing meals for their children.

One in five parents say they have to make a completely separate meal for their children as an alternative to the main family meal twice a week on average, as they contend with fussy little eaters who often refuse point blank to eat what the rest of the family is eating.

In fact, parents say their kids and now getting so demanding about what they eat that 40% of those surveyed by Philips believe their children would be more critical of the meals they cook than a celebrity chef or food critic.

So what’s the solution for parents desperate to make dinner time an enjoyable part of the day, instead of the most stressful part of it?

Beverley Glock, food writer and TV cook, discusses her tips from a cooking perspective when it comes to cutting down on cooking time and different meal preparation, in this podcast.

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