Not exactly easier, but there are certainly different challenges to cope with as your little ones grow up. And if you have a brood of children, just getting them all to school on time can be a challenge…

When your children are young you often hear people say ‘it will get easier as they get older’. And, in some ways it does. You get a full night's sleep (unless you are up waiting to hear your eldest come home safely from a party) or one of them sneaks in for a (now rather delicious, but luckily very occasional) midnight cuddle.

But other things get more tricky. Schedules get full with after-school and weekend clubs: football, dancing, music and swimming. It can feel as it the rest of the time is spent wrangling over homework, reading and making packed lunches. You just get to grips with one schedule and then it all changes again as the children move up through the school years.

Managing the school run

Transporting your children to several schools at different times is a logistical challenge that requires military planning! Either you're starting a new school or rethinking how to ferry them around. It's always worth considering if there's a better way to get there.

We suggest walking, scooting or cycling to school if at all possible as it takes away the uncertainty of the school traffic and the fight for parking spaces. Research shows that when people commute to work, the most stressful factor is that they have no control over the time the journey will take from day to day. The unpredictability makes it impossible to manage and stress levels rise just thinking about it.

Sustrans is a great resource for identifying a safe route from home to school – just put in your postcode and find the routes marked in green around your area. Of course, wear a helmet and bright jacket, whatever the weather.

If you need to be in two places at once, or just want to share the school run load, you might find a family to set up a reciprocal arrangement with. The Parent Map on Classlist helps you connect with parents at your school that live nearby. There may even be someone that you can share the after-school club juggle with too.