Managing to stay on top of hectic schedule can take a heavy toll

Raising children is not only about paying bills, but also about spending time with them.

Wang Haifeng, a Beijing resident whose son is a fifth-grade primary school pupil, has a deep understanding of this fundamental fact.

Wang's husband is an oil-exploration researcher and his busy schedule takes him all over China. Wang, consequently, has to undertake the responsibility of taking care of their son. Apart from driving the boy to school and picking him up every day, Wang also has to accompany him to four different tutoring courses each week.

Wang sometimes sits in the back of the same classroom to listen to what her son is being taught, so that she can have common topics to discuss. But more frequently, particularly when the courses are not so easy to follow, she sits outside the classroom, killing time by surfing the internet on her smartphone.

"The most vivid memory about accompanying my son to tutoring courses is waiting, endless waiting," she said.

Working for a State-owned company, Wang has a stable and regular eight-to-five lifestyle, less time-consuming compared to friends working in large transnational corporations. But she still feels the pressures of limited time.

"Life is too busy," she said. "It seems that I've devoted all my time to work and the education of my son, leaving no time for entertainment or personal private moments."

She added that she couldn't remember the last time she shopped for clothes or the last time she went to a hairdresser. "They are so long ago."

She does remember going to the cinema last month when her son had a course nearby, yet she left halfway to fetch her boy without fully understanding the plot! "But it was still precious, because I finally got a break."

To reduce the burden and save time, she has come up with solutions such as asking the child's grandparents for help, and collaborating with other parents - taking turns to send and fetch children.

"I can't imagine how those parents who registered their children for seven, eight or more tutoring courses manage their time," she said.