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...
Graphic scenes on television in recent times, showing homes crammed floor-to-ceiling with an astonishing amount of stuff is known now as a mental illness. Bronwyn Coulter explains how problems accumulated when she was growing up in a house of hoarders. I grew up in a house...
Heather Renton hopes that medical cannabis will prove to be an effective therapeutic treatment, where other medication has failed for her daughter, Rebecca. Why my 12-year-old child is involved in a medical cannabis trial Most mornings I feel like I have run a marathon before I...
Belinda Horton, Past CEO of the Post and Ante Natal Depression Association (PANDA), says honest conversations with expectant mothers and new parents can help them through times of distressing emotional upheaval. Babies are amazing, and becoming a parent is life-changing. So why do we hear over...
