In amongst all the election hot air the strange little word we only ever hear from the mouths of politicians - manifesto - has been doing the rounds.
These semi fictional documents are referred to, brandished and photographed willy nilly during the carnival of canvassing and promise much in terms of game changing policy.
So far this election though we've had Labour promising us that this time, should they get back into power, they are going to do the maths where our money is concerned.
Reassuring indeed.
Then we had the Conservatives re releasing a 35 year old housing hit and hoping the same tune played on a slightly different fiddle will get us all partying in the polling booths.
And as for the Lib Dems after the tuition fees u turn no one seems quite sure if they bothered at all this time around.
What I'm waiting for though as a working parent is someone to tackle the big issue I face daily.
Not the cost of printer ink, although Lord knows that's a scandal that needs exposing before people begin to realise using their own blood is a lot cheaper and marginally less hassle. Nor is it the fact choosing a new light bulb has been made so fiendishly complicated those in need of illumination have taken to uncoupling entire wiring systems and dragging them through Homebase to ensure the correct fitting is purchased.
No, the big issue for me and millions of other families where both partners work - or indeed where there is a single parent doing it all - is the crippling cost of childcare.
There's only one country in Europe who pays more for childcare than we do in England and that is super rich Switzerland. Costs have risen so dramatically here that part-time childcare for 2 children under the age of 5 costs more than the average mortgage.
That extraordinary statistic isn't just very bad news for the people involved, it also means that for parents on low and middle incomes reducing their hours of work or giving up jobs altogether is the only option - which of course is a disaster for the country's economy.
According to Ofsted it's not like many parents get what they pay for either, the education watchdog have judged 1 in 5 nurseries and childminders as inadequate or requiring improvement. Whats more childcare staff are among the poorest paid of all workers with hourly pay for nursery staff just £8.04 in 2014 which means someone somewhere is making an awful lot of cash. Then there's the fact that only 43% of councils say they have enough childcare for working parents.
With 80% of families with children under 15 using childcare in England with an average of 26 hours of childcare per child per week being called upon this couldn't be a more widespread issue and it's one that desperately needs addressing.
Once the headlines have died down lets hope the small print of these manifestos contains some policies to do just that and that those policies are honoured. I'll certainly be taking a good look through to find out, once the very expensive ink has dried on them that is of course.
