Hannah Gray finds some of this determined, busy brand of women right here in Peterborough.

Debbie Whyte
DEBBIE Whyte has got some pretty impressive children.

Her son Alex (12), plays ice hockey for the Phantoms under-14s A team, trains for the South-East Conference Team and for the last two years had been invited to trials for England, and her figure-skating daughter Bethany (14) competes in her sport and regularly makes the rostrum.

But as Debbie herself acknowledges, this takes work.

"To be at that level you need to keep up, you can't just do the Thursday evening and be happy with that," she said.

This work does come from her children, but also from the family at large, as there is much ferrying around to be done, and hockey and figure skating have become a huge part of Whyte family life – Steve and Debbie run a learn-to-play session on a Saturday, Steve coaches the under-14s and Debbie has just set up a figure skating club.

The thing that keeps Debbie going is the enjoyment her children get from their chosen sports.

"Alex loves it," she said. "If he didn't want to do it, I'd be fine. I wouldn't want him to do anything because he thought it was something we wanted him to do."

Debbie, who works part-time as a teaching assistant, said she does manage to keep track of all the various training sessions and games.

"I have a busy diary, I have a good memory. I'm just one of those people who is organised. I have my routine," she said.

"Obviously it just takes a lot of juggling, because I work as well. But I don't mind because I love the sport. I think you have to love the sport and the people in it to have the kind of commitment that we have."

And occasionally, the family even manage to take some time out away from the ice.

Debbie said: "We still manage to fit in the odd meal out or a family trip to the cinema, but they're not as frequent as some other families. But the kids understand that if they want to do these sports they've chosen to do, there are sacrifices you have to make."

Aside from any political affiliations, what Sarah Palin is trying to do is to brand herself as a busy, modern mother. And Debbie thinks this kind of high profile recognition of multi-tasking parents can only be a good thing.

"I think it is, I think most parents, certainly most mums, do a heck of a lot of juggling in their lives," she said. "There is a whole hoard of mums driving backwards and forwards and it must be even harder for single parents.

"I think she is trying to make people more aware that she's standing for vice president, but at the same time she's still got her family and all those commitments and it's a juggling act."

What must comfort both Debbie and Mrs Palin is the pride they feel of their healthy, happy children working hard at a sport they love.

"Without a doubt I'm as proud as I can be of both of them," Debbie said.

"Alex is a hard-working player and Bethany, when she's out there doing her bit with the music and when she goes on the rostrum, your chest is bursting and you're grinning. You're really proud of them, you couldn't ask for more."