Why? Not because of gender stereotyping or social conditioning, but because women have a ‘maternal imperative’ that’s hard for them to ignore. Children simply have a greater emotional claim on their mothers than their fathers. Some women can resist it and some genuinely don’t feel it. But as a general rule, mothers find not doing the school run even harder to cope with than doing it. Which is really saying something. (Yes, I sometimes do the school run as well.)