Linda Wyrill wonders how and when to broach a tender topic with her son. Offered chicken for dinner at age three, my son exclaimed, “We can’t eat chickens! Chickens are friends!” Indeed. We’d been watching friendly animated chickens on TV that very afternoon. And we were...
Clare Wishart experiences a sea change in her attitude to holidays. Before I had kids, I belonged to that rare breed of adults who didn’t like holidays. Don’t get me wrong; I liked the idea of going away, I really did. It’s just that once I...
It’s beginning to look a lot like burnout, write Sophie Scott and Gordon Parker It’s getting towards the time of the year when you might feel more overwhelmed than usual. There are work projects to finish and perhaps exams in the family. Not to mention the...
How should I add sunscreen to my skincare routine now it’s getting hotter? Monika Janda, Caitlin Horsham and Katie Lee have some suggestions. Sun exposure is the number one cause of skin cancer – including the most deadly form, melanoma. High levels of sun exposure cause an estimated...
It’s important to play with your kids but let them make the rules, writes Victoria Whitington Young children love to play with their mums and dads. But for busy parents, it’s often the last thing they feel like doing. Running a home and family, doing paid work...
If you're employed in Australia, you're likely familiar with compulsory superannuation payments from your employer, currently set at 11% and set to increase to 12% by July 2025, writes author Ana Kresina Super is often overlooked when planning for parental leave, given its long-term nature and...
The Australian paid parental leave scheme has no provision for babies born prematurely or unwell, and it’s time for a change to support all families, writes researchers by Dr Abbey Eeles and Professor Alicia Spittle A baby entering the world is a very special thing, but...
No, writes Lisa Mitchell, it’s ageist, whatever Bluey says. A child once approached me, hunched over, carrying a vacuum cleaner like a walking stick. In a wobbly voice, he asked: Do you want to play grannies? The idea came from the children’s TV show Bluey, which has episodes,...
And it’s way too easy for children to access, report Sonja Petrovic and Milovan Savic Explicit content has long been a feature of the internet and social media, and young people’s exposure to it has been a persistent concern. This issue has taken centre stage again with...
Researchers Nigel Howard and Andrew Bills report that schools are often not empowered by education authorities to respond in their own ways. Earlier this month, the ABC reported an alarming national poll about school refusal. Of the 1,000 parents surveyed by the Greens-commissioned poll, 39% agreed...
