Maxine Clarke admits to using deception as a parental ploy. I remember the first time I realised that my mother could be deliberately dishonest. I was only about seven, but the exact details are almost as clear in my mind as if it happened five minutes...
Every parent has likely faced the challenge (or is still facing) of keeping the family home clean amid disruption, disorganisation and overall messy children. However, Simone Tsigolis believes maintaining a clean and organised home—and encouraging the kids to help out—can be a simple undertaking. In the...
Here, Australian mums share their best money management advice – from simple systems to saving for the big stuff. Push the Envelope “I’ve been using a simple envelope system to help me budget since I was a teenager,” said Maria Tedeschi, mother of four children aged 15,...
Researchers Laura Marchese and Katherine Livingstone looked at 700 plant-based foods to see how healthy they really are. Here's what they found. YesPhotographers/Shutterstock If you’re thinking about buying plant-based foods, a trip to the supermarket can leave you bewildered. There are plant-based burgers, sausages and mince. The fridges are...
A Sydney council tried to ban books with same-sex parents from its libraries. But since when did councils ban books? asks Sarah Mokrzycki Western Sydney’s Cumberland city council recently reinstated a ban on all books depicting same-sex parents in its eight public libraries, after banning a book...
Ravioli with balsamic vinegar and brown butter is my go-to when I’m really busy but want something delicious (and slightly indulgent) for dinner. It doesn’t get much simpler than three ingredients, but that means they have to be the very best; there’s nowhere for second-rate...
With the new changes about to kick in, Zoe Rathus looks at how they will affect children. In October 2023, the federal parliament passed major changes to how children’s cases are decided under the Family Law Act, which kicks in next month. Among other things, they repeal...
Linda J. Graham writes about the displacement of parents, and particularly mothers, by ‘experts’ in modern life. It goes almost without saying that the latter half of the 20th Century witnessed fundamental change to the institution of the family. While the emergence of feminism has received...
When Elizabeth Kenyon is pregnant with her third child, things do not go according to plan. My husband and I were very smug when we conceived our third child, as it happened exactly when we’d hoped. The ideal timing made up for the fact that in...
A new sibling can start as a threat but end as a friend, writes Sarah Cameron. Imagine your husband comes home from work one day with another woman. He introduces her to you and explains that she will be joining the family from this day forward....
