I have a daughter with a birthday this week and I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that she's turning 30 and not 13! That's because it's the mums and dads stuck at home, occupying under fives or supervising schoolwork—many juggling their own work—or those who are essential workers having to make other arrangements for kids that my heart goes out to.

I've spent a lot of the last six weeks speaking with people about how they're doing. After the initial, 'We're okay,' it doesn't take long to get to the heart of the matter, which is that it's hard. There's the surge in mums' voices about distracting the preschooler long enough so her older sister can do her videoconference in peace; or that thr