The way our children handle ‘small knocks’ is crucial, says Michelle Mitchell, as it will be the foundation for much bigger things. It’s during the small knocks that young people develop their response patterns to life’s future pressures. Deteriorating resilience is similar to tears in a...
Kylie Ladd explores the issues that arise for children living with a mentally ill parent. … mental illness does not necessarily reduce one’s capacity to parent well… This morning, my mother didn’t get out of bed. So begins Melina Marchetta’s powerful novel Saving Francesca, in which a 16-year-old...
Cathy Watson enters the uncertain world of premature babies and their parents. Barbara A* and her partner left the champagne unopened when their daughter Freya was born at 27 weeks’ gestation. Just as their daughter entered a new world, so too did they – as parents...
Michelle Mitchell says parents should think of a young person’s life like a big gym session (with lots of squats), and a parent like a personal trainer. Just like a personal trainer, a parent needs to help their child develop a tolerance for ‘the burn’...
Michelle Mitchell looks at ways you can help your child become more resilient when faced with the dramas and self-doubt of growing up. “Our poor little girl is being called dumb at school. She’s becoming really anxious about going to school and also being away from...
The Federal Government will seek advice on covering the cost of stillbirth autopsies, to help families understand more about the death. The decision was made as part of its response to a parliamentary inquiry examining why Australia's stillbirth rate has not dropped in two decades. The inquiry's...
Dr Karen Brooks wonders what lessons our kids are learning from modern adaptations of classic children’s stories. What lessons are these sumptuous, happily-ever-after tales of beautiful and very stereotyped boys and girls, ethnicity, love and romance really teaching our kids, if they’re teaching them anything at...
If we define ‘being nice’ as what you do to make someone else happy with you, then being too nice is a big problem, because whether or not you feel good depends on the other person’s response. Dr Andrew Wake explores the negatives of niceness. Michael*...
Janet Tubbs examines the characteristics of children with this syndrome. Because Asperger's is so widely misunderstood, parents often feel guilty about their child’s behaviour, believing it reflects on their parenting skills. Asperger’s syndrome (AS) is a form of autism that falls midway on the autism spectrum, between...
Anne-Maree Brown pockets the ‘answer’ to coping with life as a new mum. I have never really been good at being a bad girl. Whether it was my Catholic upbringing or ruddy Irish complexion, I was always transparent. I grew up in the depths of suburbia. It...
