Tag Archives: parenting

It's official. Santa is dead. Or maybe not “dead”, but apparently he is very much not alive. At least according to my five year old. The note reads: I love you Santa but you not alive

People are blaming the mother for "letting" her child fall into the gorilla exhibit. There’s even been a Change.org petition calling for her to be held accountable for the death of the gorilla, 17 year old Harambe.

Is your newsfeed constantly flooded with “jokes” about how fathers need to be micromanaged to care for their own children? Or how men generally incapable of parenting, housework and keeping themselves alive? That men are irresponsible and essentially additional children?

For quite some time I was under the impression I couldn’t be a feminist and wear make up. Or I couldn’t be a feminist and have casual sex. Or be a stay at home mum. Or love knitting. Or any number of things that I didn’t think that feminism would approve of.

On some subconscious level I’d assumed that would be what being a school mum looked like for me. I’d be a super involved helpful parent. I’m pretty crafty, I like being helpful, I studied teaching so I assumed I’d be the first to put my hand up as a classroom helper. I imagined I’d be an organised and shining example of what it is to be a “School Mum”.

I was recently involved in filming a clip for Medela - "Motherhood is different for everybody".I was so nervous with filming that it sounds like I was about to cry and I discovered I'm not destined for a life in television given how utterly wigged out I was by having a camera rolling.

Witty, well thought out responses to unsolicited parenting advice are all well and good - if you have the alertness and sassy personality to pull it off.

I do not.

Firstly, the picture goes viral because the vast majority of parents are sitting behind their computer screen going “ahahaha, yeah, been there, done that” OR at the very least can go “Oh, I totally can see how that went down”

I recently read a blog post by a blog ModernLifeWife31 titled "It's NEVER OK to call your toddler an ASSHOLE" and it keeps popping up in my Facebook newsfeed so I feel like I should form some kind of response to it.

When is it okay to leave children unattended?It’s a simple enough question and it’s one that I’m finding myself asking myself often, in small ways.

When my first born was a baby, I used to anxiously wait until she was asleep, then I would whisk through the house and clean up. When she woke up, I would be all eyes on her, sitting and playing and taking care of her until at last she would fall asleep again. Repeat.

Referring to dads as “helpers”, “babysitters” and anything else that implies that they aren’t actually parenting their own children, that they’re just standing in for the mother for a few moments, is not a good thing.

There’s lots of things I’m good at as a parent - there’s some things I’d even say I’m great at. I’m a pretty good mum. I'd like to think I can be a fun mum, I'm a patient mum, I'm an affectionate mum... but there's still a lot that I suck at as a parent that I'd like to share with you today.

We were driving through the beautiful countryside yesterday and my husband said, “Hey Kate, stop looking at your phone and look at the scenery.” I was in the worst mood ever (we were joking about it) and I said, “Oh would you shut up and let me look at my phone!” I’d seen the pretty scenery a million times before and it was the first time I’d had a chance to check my phone all day.

There are some things I can relate to in the recent Huffington Post article titled “Why my husband will always come before my kids.”

My initial gut reaction is to say - of course I love my children more. But I don't think that's entirely accurate for me either.

Last night was cold. Like, seriously cold. And our “Lets save money and not turn on the central heating” resolve was broken.

My partner left for work first thing in the morning and won’t be getting home until after dark, so the task of turning on the gas heating was going to be left in my capable, grown up, hands.

My two year old has had three epic tantrums in the past ninety minutes. There is chewed up corn on the rug. And non-chewed rice. And a spoon. And possibly what is left of my sanity, smooshed up in the bits of corn and rice.

As mums, we are spoiled for choice when it comes to guilt. We can feel guilty about how we feed our children, how we get them to to sleep, how much TV they watch and how much quality time we spend with them. I don't think guilt is always such a bad thing. It has its place in reminding us about our own values, and if we're staying true to them.

Understandably, nobody wants their child to grow up into a spoiled, ego-centric adult. But, is purposely teaching kids that they are NOT the center of the universe, the right way to do it?

Can I give you some advice about how to give advice?

There’s an art to giving advice. If you get it right even bad advice (or advice that just isn’t the best fit for the person or situation) can come off positively. Get it wrong and even good advice can come across offensive or unsupportive.

If you look at how Babywearing is portrayed on tv and in movies- it’s no wonder people choose the least ergonomic carriers to start with! So often they are narrow based, outward facing and just look damn uncomfy to anyone who wears an older baby or toddler with any regularity.First up, we have The Guys who love the least ergonomic carriers, in the least comfy position:

Emma Jenna has been a nanny for 20 years, she is the author of “Keep Calm and Parent On” and she’ has recently written a blog post  “5 Reasons Modern-Day Parenting Is In Crisis” which has gained a lot of attention from parents both applauding her and disagreeing with what she has to …

We've been hearing for a while now that "Helicopter Parenting" (or the academic term "Intensive Parenting" ) may have a detrimental effect on children. By hovering, and managing children's play times, parents may be interrupting their child's creativity and problem solving. Then by swooping in to save children from any discomfort or challenges, their children aren't getting the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, or resolve things on their own, then gaining confidence and independence.

I hate making mistakes. I hate it. I agonise over mistakes, mistakes I've made, mistakes I might make, mistakes that could have been worse, mistakes that I feel nobody else but me would ever make. Rationally I know that everyone makes mistakes, but ...

I opened the Herald Sun the other morning and almost choked on my toast.A Victorian suburban primary school has stopped their students form playing tag (or tiggy when I was at primary school) beacuse it led to kids getting disappointed and upset about getting caught. You read that right: tag banned because the school didn't want to deal with kids getting upset (sore losers) over getting caught in a kids game.

I was being a smart alec tonight, and just for fun, I started googling the following ‘mean parenting‘ phrases to see what would turn up.  Here are just a few that I looked for: How to get your kids to obey by smacking them Ways to punish a child so …

Raising Children Without TV Sometime today, the house got quiet… like real quiet. The motormouth had stopped motoring for a few moments and I went looking to see what sort of trouble my three year old was getting into. When I found her, she was sitting on the couch, glued …

Is it bad to admit I'm a bit over feeding my kids? Sure I'm grateful to have healthy, energetic children with good appetites, but sometimes I run out of ideas and sometimes I feel like we're running out of food!What do your children like to eat?

A recent article on the BBC website caught my eye - Why Finnish Babies Sleep in Cardboard Boxes - and upon reading it I was surprised to discover in Finland every expectant mother is given the option of a Baby Box

I hear the advice of making time for our partners, to nurture our relationships, but I keep thinking - how can I make time, there's still the same number of hours in a day, I can't make more time. Also with "finding time" as though we might just stumble upon it. It doesn't feel like that's how it works.

5 things to never say to your other half!I feel I need to share this to any daddy followers out there, the top 5 things to never say to an exhausted, run down mamma.

There is no one way to go about toilet training, as with many parenting topics, what you do, what will work, what will be the best outcome for your child depends very much on your child and your own parenting views.