Busy fathers, and possibly mothers, who feel they are not seeing enough of their children due to work commitments may want to take a leaf out of Guido de Marco's book.

"He made a point of being very present when he was present to make up for lost time," his son Mario recalls of his childhood in an interview with Child magazine, distributed free with The Times tomorrow.

For those who can't avoid working long hours, there can hardly be a better piece of advice than to follow the former President's example.

It also encapsulates what Child magazine is all about: offering nuggets of useful information to parents on a wide variety of child-rearing issues. The latest edition tries, as always, to live up to that function in a variety of ways.

There are tips on a range of parental concerns from new parents not getting enough sleep to seasoned parents seeing their child leave the nest. There is advice on promoting intellectual development, dealing with emotional difficulties on the first day of school and preventing damage to health from chemicals in the home.

A special feature on planting the seeds of spiritual growth should be of special interest coming so soon after the survey showing Mass attendance reaching a new low.

And that's not even the half of it.

Get your copy tomorrow with The Times.

Child is published by Allied Newspapers Ltd., produced by MediaMaker Ltd and printed at Progress Press Ltd.