Round the bend and over the edge -- how far will you go to be a perfect parent? Does an impending child's birthday party fill you with performance anxiety? Did you spend more time on your child's homework last night than on your own employer's end-of-year report? Do you drop boastful hints about your child, saying 'George is so busy' -- even though George is six? If so, you might be suffering from the madness of modern parenting. This book is a hilarious insight into the modern rat race that modern middle-class family life seems to demand. It asks, why have we acquired the skills of a black cab driver as we ferry our children from Monkey Music bassoon lessons to advanced trapeze? And why do four different children now require four different kids of pasta -- leaving aside the pressure of children's birthday parties and the need to provide organic veggie Halal birthday cakes? Funny, irreverent and right-on-the-button, THE MADNESS OF MODERN PARENTING taps into a phenomenon that we've all recognised but haven't dared to speak out about . Until now ...