It is quality rather than quantity that matters. In general, do you believe this applies to parenting?

Of course as a mom who works quite long hours outside the home, I have to buy into the "quality not quantity" idea. And I do believe this is the case for so many things in life. Yes...you need to spend time with your children. But especially when they are at school most of the day or in activities much of their free time, the number of hours you actually have with your children is small - a few hours weekdays & then the weekends when they are not otherwise occupied. I try to spend those hours with them in high quality ways such as playing, doing puzzles, helping them learn, reading with them, exposing them to new things, etc. I do spend some other hours during the week on parenting-related activities but not with them - such as applying to schools or signing up for activities, helping w/ fundraisers, general thinking about my kids futures. But, again, my experience is that you can do those in efficient ways or at different times. Just my 2 cents & admittedly from the point of view of a working mom.

Within rational limits. In other words, quality parenting once a year might not cut it :-) but I've seen with my own kids that quality (and really, truly paying attention to them, not BlackBerrying or doing several other things while they're trying to talk to you) edged out quantity a while ago.

Not entirely sure I believe it but I convince myself I believe it - not being the Mommy that picks up at 3 pm stresses me out but then I look at my kids and they are pretty happy well adjusted little people. I guess leaving them in the hands of trained professionals isn't entirely bad.

To an extent this is true but part of getting "quality time" and being there for your child is knowing what goes on in their lives and for that you need a certain "quantity" of time.