Michaela Fox encourages mothers to trust their instincts more and listen to others less. It’s a predictable script: you become a mother and sentence yourself to a lifetime of guilt – or so it appears. I overheard a conversation between two mothers at the park recently,...
Kate King waxes lyrical about bygone times, before realising she is a different person now she is a mother. One night recently our children gave my husband and me a rare and unexpected treat: they were asleep by 7 pm. As we gently pulled their bedroom...
Leanne Torres finds her daughter’s first day of school is a big adventure for them both. If I try really hard, I can just about remember my first day of school. Maybe it’s the photo that triggers my memory – there I am with my big...
With both her kids now at school, Jean Flynn contemplates a ‘career change’. I’m looking for a job. I already have one, but I’m interested in doing something a bit different – branching out. I’ve been in my current position for nearly eight years. It’s full-time...
More and more employers are aware of their obligations to assist mothers returning to work. This advice from the Australian Breastfeeding Association provides the latest updated information to help parents to make their best choices. Many mothers successfully combine work and breastfeeding. Our work environment continues...
Amanda Hampson recalls the moment when the sea turned from playground to predator for her family. We weren’t alarmed, just a little uneasy. It was the end of a long, hot day when we took our children to the beach for a quick swim. Even as we...
Clare Wishart finds the transition to school is harder for her than her son I remember the drive home from hospital six years ago with my newborn son. Suburbia looked so ordinary after my spiritual trip in the maternity ward. My euphoria at becoming a parent...
Five seconds of distraction is all it takes for Claire Hewitt’s toddler daughter to get into deep trouble. This morning I didn’t know how many seconds it would take a 24-month-old to drown. Laden with towels, outfits, drink bottles, snacks, phone, nappies, wallet, keys – the...
This is ideal holiday picnic or lunchbox fare. You can customise this recipe to your heart’s content. Almost any cooked vegetable can go in, from spring broccoli through summer peas, beans and courgettes (zucchinis) to winter roots, and it can be enhanced with chopped herbs. For babies: Wedges...
Nothing compares to the overwhelming frustration, and absolute joy, of parenting a toddler, writes Megan Blandford. Independence is the word that describes it all: a toddler is undergoing the change between being a baby who is reliant on their parents, to being a child who can...
