'''Basic Trope''': Children whose parent(s) love them, but are too busy to spend time with them.
* '''Straight''': Alice, a LonelyRichKid, has parents who are continuously trying to spend time with her, but are too busy to do so. This disappoints Alice.
* '''Exaggerated''': Alice's parents are so busy, that Alice doubts that they even love her. They forgot her birthday, didn't come to the science fair, and don't even speak to her at home...
* '''Downplayed''': Alice's parents are busy, but still find some (little) time to spend once in a while.
* '''Justified''':
** Alice's parents are busy, and don't understand that Alice needs more than money to be happy.
** Or, Alice's parents are poor and constantly work so they can scrape together enough money to feed, clothe and educate her.
** Her parents are {{Workaholic}}s and their behavior borderlines on ParentalNeglect, so Alice's concerns are pretty much real.
** Dad is at the front lines, keeping emperor Evulz at bay and, by extension, keeping not just Alice, but all her school friends safe.[[note]]not that Alice, as young as she is, can understand that.[[/note]]
* '''Inverted''':
** Alice's parents continuously try to spend time with her, but Alice is too busy hanging out with her friends and boyfriend.
** Or, Alice's parents ''hate'' her, but they hang out so much together to a ridiculous extent, that people think that they're a happy family.
** Alice's parents prioritize her over practically everything else - including work. Alice expresses concern with this.
* '''Subverted''': Turns out her parents realized their mistakes and starts cutting off their work for awhile.
* '''Double Subverted''': Unfortunately, a more important and urgent job comes in - and they had to leave.
* '''Parodied''': Alice's parents are so busy, they didn't know where Alice is 80% of the time; and they also didn't know that Alice had run away months ago to her friend's house - and her parents thought Lisa, the girl next door was their daughter.
* '''Zig Zagged''': Alice spends a lot of time with her parents on some occasion, sometimes they hardly see Alice at all.
* '''Averted''': Alice's parents, although busy, spends a healthy time with Alice.
* '''Enforced''': The creators wanted a tragic back story for Alice, who is a rich girl.
* '''Lampshaded''': "Why are you two never around for me when I need it?!"
* '''Invoked''': ???
* '''Exploited''':
** Alice realizes that her parents are too occupied with work to notice her, so she started doing things... that she shouldn't be doing.
** On the other hand, it makes WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld a little easier to keep secret, whether it's Alice herself doing the world-saving or helping her friend Bob as a SecretKeeper.
* '''Defied''': Alice tries to make her parents be there for her, or vice-versa.
* '''Discussed''': "Back then, my parents were always talking with their phones to even look at me..."
* '''Conversed''': "Alice's parents are so busy, huh? When will they ever learn?"
* '''Deconstructed''': Alice's life began to spiral out of control, and she began to use drugs and skip school. After recovering, she soon became a workaholic herself, repeating the cycle. Her parents, now old and retired, regrets never being there for her - who now has nearly no time for ''them''.
** Alice confronts her parents over their workaholic tendencies and they rather bitterly point out that working eighty hours a week and hardly spending time with their daughter wasn't exactly how they imagined living life either.
* '''Reconstructed''': Alice vows to never be like her parents; and she did become a good parent later on.
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Back to WhenYouComingHomeDad, and you better hang around for a while.
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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
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%%* '''Implied''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???