John Hughes’s temporary experience of being a stay-at-home dad enables him finally to understand why parents ask teachers so many questions. Juggling Roles at School and at Home I am in the unusual, but not unique, situation of having my daughter attend Kindergarten at the school where...
New pet custody rules, stronger financial protections and easier divorces – what Australia’s 2025 family law reforms mean for parents and pet lovers. A major shift in Australia’s family law could affect everything from your finances to who gets to keep the family dog. If you’re separating...
So your primary school child has a ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’. Should you be worried? asks Cher McGillivray If you have a child in primary school, you may not be expecting to help them manage romantic relationships. Surely this is an issue for the high school years? While...
How can you help your child make friends? Gretchen Geng and Phillip Slee have some ideas that may help. One of the things children (and parents) may worry about at the start of the new school year is, will I have friends? This could be true for...
Judith Kirkwood has mixed feelings about her 18-year-old son becoming a father. I didn’t know what to say when my teenage son, Robin, told me one winter afternoon that he was going to be a father. That didn’t stop me from mumbling something like, “I hope...
How to help kids open up and say more than ‘fine’, Madeleine Fraser has some great 'chat' tips for parents One of the first things parents want to ask their children after school is “how was your day?” We simply want to know how they are...
Emma Bateman highlights the differences in parenting styles between mums and dads. At the playground, my arms are folded tightly around my waist and I’m scowling. Not at my two-year-old son, who is smiling crazily, but at my husband, John, who is dangling William precariously about...
‘They’re meant to help and did the complete opposite’. Georgina Dimopoulos looks at what kids really think. When parental separation ends up in the family courts, serious risks such as family violence, child abuse, drug, alcohol or substance misuse, and mental health issues are often involved. But...
Research shows that anti-bullying efforts are more effective when students are involved. It also shows we need to involve the whole school to stop it. write Fiona MacDonald and Nina Van Dyke About one in four students report being regularly bullied in Australian schools. Children who are...
It takes some time before Amelia Sommer adjusts to, and appreciates, the role that her mother is prepared to play in her children’s lives. Once, when my 10-month-old daughter would not stop crying, and I was trying to placate her as well as cope with her...
