Lucinda Bertram has a packing list for all excursions but wonders whether she goes a little too far. “Have you got your bag packed?” a friend of mine asked an expectant mother we both knew. “Not yet,” came her flippant reply, even though she was almost...

Joseph Kelly contemplates the decline in the popularity of siblings sharing rooms. With the arrival of my second daughter, I carried on with the mistaken assumption that my two girls would happily share a room. The assumption was based on solid empirical evidence on the topic...

Rauno Parrila, Anne Castles, and Saskia Kohnen explain what these terms mean, what they involve, and what you can do at home. Victoria has just announced that all government schools will be required to use phonics to teach reading from next year. This brings it in line...

Asha Bowen reports on Azithromycin and how parents can manage it while this antibiotic is in short supply for children Antibiotic shortages have become a big challenge for child health. For example, amoxicillin and cephalexin are among the most commonly prescribed antibiotics for children, used to...

Maxine Clarke takes up arms against the negative stereotypes and dubious role models in fairytales and children’s nursery rhymes. As a young child, I was always highly suspicious of fairytales. Not because I knew they were fantasy but because I realised, at least on some level,...

Understanding the psychology of goals can help tick things off – and keep you on track, reports researcher Kim M Caudwell. It feels like we are living in busy times. According to the OECD Better Life Index, 12.5% of Australians report working at least 50 hours a...

Librarians have good reasons to ‘weed’ books from their shelves, report Sarah Polkinghorn and Lisa M. Given Earlier this year, the removal of thousands of books to make room for renovations at Melbourne’s City Library prompted an outcry. Removing the books was “an absolute act of...

Cassy Dittman, Govind Krishnamoorthy and Marg Rogers can help you prepare for that conversation With around one in 50 adults diagnosed with cancer each year, many people are faced with the difficult task of sharing the news of their diagnosis with their loved ones. Parents...

Kate Triglone writes about the double-edged nature of the sleep-deprived, hazy period of life with a newborn. My friend Sharee has a theory: when you have a baby you enter a different time zone occupied only by other parents of newborns – Baby Time. In the...

Stephanie Wescott investigates 'post-truth politics' and 'manosphere extremists' in Australian schools.  Figures of the “manosphere” – a loose group of online figures who espouse anti-feminist and misogynist ideas and promote regressive ideas of masculinity – have risen in popularity in recent years. Given the currency these figures...