Without some of the structures of days gone by, today’s mums can feel all at sea, writes Angela Rossmanith. “The bottom line is that women want someone to listen to their needs and concerns and help them address these needs. When a midwife who knows the...
Here is a simple and appealing vegie snack that is easy to make. Ingredients 8 sheets toasted nori 125g (4½ oz) baby spinach leaves 3 cucumbers, halved and sliced lengthways 3 carrots, peeled and grated or shredded using a julienne peeler 2 avocados, thickly sliced ⅔ cup (10g/¼ oz) mint leaves ⅔ cup...
Paula Murphy comes to realise that her daughter is being bullied at school. She would often cry herself to sleep. Do you know what question I ask my daughter every day after school? It is not, ‘Were you the best in class today?’ It is not,...
Anne-Marie LeBel gradually learns to let go of her former expectations as her family adjusts to the fact that both of her sons have autism. Mum, I think my little boy is autistic. The pain descended on me all at once, and the tears fell like...
As family life increasingly unfolds around the hub of the home – the kitchen – just how much of a germ warrior do you really need to be? Ed Halmagyi, chef, parent and author of An hour’s the limit, Good Food in less than 60...
A highly sensitive person herself, therapist Heidi Gaspar feels that the trait is a delight. Being highly sensitive certainly has its challenges but a glass-half-full approach lets me respond to opportunities. An Orchid-Dandelion metaphor by two psychologists in 2011 suggests two distinct sensitivity patterns, the more...
Mandy Collins finds the judgements of other women in relation to birth and breastfeeding to be difficult to accept. I clearly remember the morning I decided to stop breastfeeding my daughter. I lay in my hospital bed, tears running down my face, terrified to tell the...
Part Two in Dr Sam Tormey's look at the nature of allergies and our growing propensity to suffer from them. "Childhood food allergy has become a major public health problem. Concern over the rapidly rising incidence of food allergy is magnified by the extremely rare but...
Being a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) has its minuses – and pluses, reports Natalie Ritchie From the time she was little, Lily* could not be apart from either one of her parents, explains her mother, Astrid Friedman*. She didn’t like the outdoors, or anything bright, out...
Parenthood brought about an elevated awareness of hygiene in Caroline Illingworth. As for non-essential germ-sharing environments, one of the biggies for me is play centres. I generally avoid these places, but have been a few times to meet friends on a rainy day, and have even...
