Can you do the school run and run the country?

[HelenMumsnet]

Hello.

We've been reading this story about Nick Clegg "killing himself" to take his children to school in the morning - and we wondered what you all think...

Is Miriam Clegg right to insist that she and her husband share the school run - or should Nick, as the Telegraph suggests, be concentrating on running the country?

[southofthethames]

Me thinks the journalist Judith Woods is more than a little envious that Miriam Gonzalez-Durante is incredibly successful at work (and prosperous in her income) AND gets to travel in business class a lot!

[carriedababi]

good for nick clegg, i really can't stand the man personally, but i think its great he takes the children to school, i do think the school run is an important time, its a good time to get to know other parents and gives plenty of chances to get involved in your local coummity and really get to know other families in your area

i think in an ideal world it would also be a parent to do the school run collection to, as thats a great chance to hear about the day, and to really be there for them in a very solid kind of way.

good for you cloegg keep it up

and as for that ridiculous article, i cannot believe anyone would print that shite good grief.

[tigana]

Imagine that, a MAN doing some sort of menial childcaring activity. Crumbs! He is either a pussywhipped sucker OR a saintly martyr. And as for his wife....

my eyes are rolling so much I am getting a headache.

[Catmint]

Oh dear, what a nasty article.

It wasn't so much the silliness about him doing the school run that grated, it was all the snidey spanish stuff....pathetic.

[Concordia]

i'm pleased he wants to see his children. it's probably the only time he gets to see them in the day as he no doubt returns home when they are in bed. why should he not get to see his children at all just because he is deputy prime minister?
if a woman was deputy prime minister and she didnt' see her children at all during the week because the nanny did the run as the author suggests would the writer of the article think this was a good idea? or is it only men who have to work so hard they never see their children?

[vess]

Well, firstly, who cares.

Secondly, he clearly doesn't need to take the kids to school as they have one or more nannies - so he must actually like doing that, which is nice. If it doesn't compromise his job, obviously. He probably doesn't do it every single day anyway, but only when it fits with the schedule.

And thirdly, yes, his job is way more important than hers, regardless of who gets paid more. The world can do with fewer overpaid international lawyers, really.

[eurochick]

Clegg's wife is the main breadwinner. She will earn more as a law firm partner than he does as deputy PM. And more significantly, her career is likely to be longer lasting. For the good of the family long term her should be supporting her to do her work.

And the Torygraph should step out of its timewarp. That is a daft article.

[edam]

Vess - he's deputy prime minister. It's a made-up job with no real responsibility. No ministry or portfolio. Seriously, if you are going to play 'who has the most important job', even if you think politics is more important than anything else, Clegg still comes bottom. Bless his cotton socks (which I hope have proper name tapes on).

Anyway, poor old Cleggie needs to spend at least a few minutes of each day with people whose critical faculties are still undeveloped enough to allow them to regard him with something other than scorn.

And anyway, even if he was the PM, he could still do the school run. The world would be a better place if people stopped making such a ruddy fuss about their jobs. I'm sure the PM can spare 20 minutes out of his day, tbh, and the country would probably be better for him leaving it alone for the odd second here and there.

[Scuttlebutter]

I am no lover of the DPM, or his party, but when I read this article today I thought it was astonishingly nasty and stupid. But then that's an accurate reflection of the journalist who was dopey enough to go on holiday without travel insurance, decided to go horse riding while she was there, and then fell off. Instead of sucking up that she was stupid and thoughtless, she proudly wrote an article explaining that she was going to sue the riding stable, as her medical bills were quite high.

[vess]

Yeah, a made-up job with no real responsibility... so he takes the kids to school and then goes off to feed the ducks in the park, reads the newspaper, has a cup of coffee at his desk at 11 and then goes home in time to make lunch. His only real responsibility is a weekly meeting with the PM over a pint at the local pub to discuss how things are going. All that while his wife is busy being a career woman and a feminist icon. Remarkable.

[HerBeX]

"Anyway, poor old Cleggie needs to spend at least a few minutes of each day with people whose critical faculties are still undeveloped enough to allow them to regard him with something other than scorn."

ROFL and hysteria at this.

So true,

[EightiesChick]

So in the midst of the Murdoch revelations and police corruption, it is the right time, apparently, to have a go at someone for working flexibly and being a decent parent? I hope the Telegraph don't have the gall to claim they 'support hard-working families' when peddling spiteful rubbish like this.

[SpareRoomSleeper]

Jesus, Judith is having a right old bitch isnt she!
Emasculated?
Loss of dignity?

Oh do fuck off!

[Tortoiseonthehalfshell]

What an appalling article.

My favourite bit is this: Yes, yes, we know she?s a partner in global law firm DLA Piper and earns shedloads more than her hubbie and was far too busy to take time off to support him on the campaign trail, but you?d think that?s quite enough emasculation for any marriage.

Next time a woman tells me that it was a no-brainer that she stayed home because she earned less/had a more flexible career/wasn't as senior as her husband, I'm going to put it to her that perhaps her husband should therefore do the school run to even out the power differential.

I'm sure that's going to go down extremely well.

[CamperFan]

Of course it's all his wife's fault, isn't it - nevermind the fact that he might actually want to be part of his kids' day to day lives. Heaven forbid!

[CamperFan]

And Judith Woods - jealous cow?

[BrandyAlexander]

That article is outrageous. Feel like I have stepped back 30 years. Twaddle like this is why I don't read the Torygraph or Daily Fail. That journalist really is a twat and feel sorry for any dd or future dil.

[robingood19]

School run? Is this a daily telegraph phrase?

[Pootles2010]

Thing is, maybe you could argue about whether someone (supposedly) running the country should have time to do school run. I'm not really sure on that tbh, can see both sides.

However, the gender of said person should be totally irrelevant. It really shouldn't make the slightest difference that he's male, so the whole 'emasculation' thing shouldn't even come into it.

His wife's opinions/stance certainly shouldn't be of any relevance either, as she's not a politician, so her being rude enough not to take his name or be a good little wifey is none of anyone's business.

[patrickjane]

What a bitch.
I really don't have any time for Nick Clegg, but how they split their parental responsibilities is their own business- none of hers.

[LeggyBlondeNE]

I was the sneering about her name that made me really angry. Gosh, how cheeky of her to retain the name she grew up with, works under, and feels is part of her identity! But then I have a particular personal beef with that issue, when even my own inlaws and two friends treat me in the same manner...

[SweetGrapes]

Rubbish article. Nast,y sneering and zero value...
Totally based around her extrapolation guesswork of whats happening in the household (finding home work and plimsolls while nanny does nothing.... how does she know that??)
So first you guess whats happening and then express outrage at that happening [hhmm]

[lurkerspeaks]

If he can do it then he should do it.

However, he should not be leaving meetings to go home to do it which is what the article implied.

It pisses me off when colleagues enforce a late start to my day, often with no discussion with the rest of the team, because they have to take the children to school. A one off is fine but one particular individual does it on a regular basis in a team where we all start at 8am to perform our first 'task' at 08:30 them swanning in at 08:45 is a bit of a bugger.

It just makes me think their chilldcare is precarious ergo they will be unreliable in the future.

I work in an industry where it generally isn't possible to come in late or go home early because of commitments to a third party. I've worked on when my Mother was being admitted to ITU and have covered at very short notice for colleagues whose spouses were in labour as getting cover is realistically the only way to escape.

[Pootles2010]

The article implied he was leaving meetings lurker but how could she possibly have known that? As Sweet says, she's guessed what's going on then been outraged about it.

Ridiculous.

[Miggsie]

What, you mean their kids are not at boarding school?
Dear dear...I'm sure if Mr Clegg is up to being a politician, he only need sto raise his intelligence level a teeny bit to survive the school run.

I expect it is because he doesn't have "a school run dress" that makes him feel so inadequate.

I do the school run...go straight to work, finish work...go straight to school...if a disabled woman can manage it I'm sure Mr Clegg can.