Even within couples who are keen to share the load equally, deciding which parent is best placed to take an unexpected VAB day can be a common source of friction, says Manne Forssberg, a parenting author and podcaster based in Stockholm. “This is going to sound like a really first-world, luxury problem because we’re extremely privileged to have VAB in place for us to use. But it’s a challenge to quickly decide who has the most important job.”