The parent posse

If anyone tells you parenting is something they do all alone, be suspicious.

Even as one of a two-parent team, there are so many others who put their hands on the steering wheel on my behalf sometimes. My parent posse includes my lift club partner; school teachers and coaches; my best friends (who listen to my whining); Parent24's sprogbloggers (who read my whining); and the parents of friends, who allow my children to eat great lumps of their peanut butter.

It’s always scary to trust other people with your children, though, and we all struggle with how to keep them safe. When you entrust your children to other people - and they trust you with theirs - it's a responsibility that can't be taken lightly. If something goes wrong, someone has to step up. A school teacher is in loco parentis over your child – read Going Loco for more on this. Of course there may be people you would never trust your children to, even those who have children themselves...

So who is in your parent posse? Who are those people without whom you would never have a quiet afternoon to doze in front of the rugby – or a morning when you don’t have to schlep past school? Praise them.