WHEN it comes to parenting skills the nation is often divided by what constitutes so-called lazy parenting.

Interestingly, it came to the fore again last week, thanks to TV’s Good Morning Britain, when they had various experts appearing on the programme who helped with sleep problems, potty training or getting rid of head-lice.

Opinions among viewers – and among other guests they had on to put the argument for and against – got rather heated but it did raise some interesting questions about a parent’s actual role in 2018.

Now, I have plenty of sympathy with parents who have particularly busy working lives and get people in to help care for children after-school, clean the house or even supply nutritious meals. Today, some people do work shockingly long hours and, if they can afford help, good luck to them.

However, there does appear to be a fine line where plugging the family responsibility gaps stop and lazy parenting begins. It is very subjective, I know, but we need some common sense here.

Parenting is all about interacting with our children. It’s why we had them in the first place, surely? They come first, last and always and – although many couples both need to work to provide a decent home – the major proportion still find time to bring up their children themselves.

And, even though we don’t especially like these jobs, that usually includes potty-training and dealing with head-lice. If things reach a really bad stage then perhaps that’s when you bring in the experts but most parents try their best initially and usually succeed.

The latest debate even mentioned getting someone in to teach your child how to ride a bike. Come on! That is one of the pleasures of parenting that makes memories for both parent and child. To bring in a stranger to “fix” this like getting in a plumber to repair a dodgy boiler sounds like getting family values badly wrong.

At the same time, we don’t want children starting school still wearing nappies and not toilet-trained or without basic skills like eating with a knife and fork and being able to hang up their coat on their own peg.

Fortunately, most parents take their parenting skills seriously and ensure that their children get the best possible start in life. But some just can’t be bothered and decide to “leave it to the teachers” which is plainly ridiculous and unrealistic.