A class party is a rewarding experience for Chantai Snellgrove’s daughter, but it is an even greater gift for her mother. My daughter Kailee is now 12 years old. I used to struggle when deciding what to do for her birthday. Should I invite my friends...
Michael Sciffer finds that school choice is enormously important to families. Some spend tens of thousands of dollars per year to send their children to private schools in the belief this will provide a better education and future. Figures released in May 2023 noted Australia’s private school...
Rachael Sharman looks at ways to have this conversation without freaking them out? I was a teenager during Australia’s 1990s “recession we had to have”, and I remember clearly a friend asking his dad for some money to go to the movies. With equal parts frustration and...
Too many parties and a tight budget make Jen Cunniffe get crafty. I have a new policy, and it’s changed my life. I am now a true believer in the worth of a Home Made Present. Once there was a time when I bought stuff for other...
The economics are complicated, writes Paul Crosby Desire, anticipation, frustration and disappointment – any time tickets for a Taylor Swift tour go on sale, there is Bad Blood. The release of tickets for the Australian leg of Swift’s Eras world tour has been far smoother than the...
Suzanne Bell draws attention to the recurrent nature of the grief experienced by parents of children with disabilities. An overwhelming sense of loss is a natural reaction when your child is diagnosed with a disability of any kind. It is often unrecognised, however, that a parent’s...
If Rory and Lorelai's relationship is your parent/child goal, these tips can help get you on the right track....
Most parents don’t pick a parenting style, writes Cher McGillivray The program Parental Guidance has been showing on Channel 9 this month. This is the second season of the show that pits 12 sets of parents with very different parenting styles against each other to work...
Karen Casey used to wander the world… now she revels in routine. For aspects of family life that we are repeatedly told require routine, kids sure are well rehearsed at taking orders and launching them out the window. When you want them to sleep, they don’t....
How often do you hear ‘No, I still want that!’, write Shane Rogersand Natalie Gately In any household with children there is an inevitable accumulation of possessions. Birthdays, Christmas, the celebration events like sporting victories and random impulse buys bring in a stream of toys, clothes...
