When a dad friend was made redundant and took on full-time childcare duties, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him. Overnight the adrenaline rush of working in finance was replaced by the mundanity of sticking on a wash or finding the lost PE kit. The family usually had a nanny but to save money he stepped in – and thrust himself into the mum circle as a result. At the school gates, he would listen as we gossiped away and worried about the juggle – and at one play date, he even ended up mowing my lawn and cutting up a manky sofa with an axe so I could get it out of the door. (This wasn’t your average play date, of course. It was a full-on DIY moment.) But however efficient he was at childcare, and he was very efficient, he couldn’t help but look like a fish out of water.