Parenting

When Julie Hawkins’ third child was born, she and her husband thought they had “struck gold”. Unlike her two older siblings, baby Sarah was quiet, laid-back and had no problem sleeping for hours on end. But as their “perfect child” started to grow up, Julie began to notice that something might be wrong. In pictures: […]

The past five months have seen floods, tsunamis and earthquakes decimate towns and cities across the world. With rolling news coverage and live video streams bringing images of the despair and destruction into our homes, it is easy to forget the impact such things can have on children. Even if kids are thousands of kilometres […]

Can a mother’s eating habits while pregnant affect her child? A new study suggests, it might. It’s well known that rats that are underfed during pregnancy produce fat babies with metabolic problems. To do the same studies with humans is difficult. Yet a “natural” experiment was provided during World War II when the German invasion […]

Do you remember what it was like to get pocket money? You might’ve got 50 cents a week, if you were lucky, to save up for that toy you so desperately wanted. These days the amount and frequency of pocket money has become more like a bank formula than a simple savings idea. When to […]

With society’s idealised image of beauty a painfully thin size zero, it has never been more important to ensure that your teenage daughter has a healthy body image and does not lean toward self-harm as she aspires to conform. Award-winning educator Dannielle Miller, CEO of Enlighten Education, asks, “What conversations aren’t we having with our […]

For some parents, discovering their child is homosexual is a crushing blow that destroys their relationship, but as Michael Sheather discovers, it can also open the way to self-awareness and even stronger family bonds. Narelle Phipps knew quite early that her son Neil saw the world through a different prism. “I first wondered if Neil […]

Many parents today may believe their children have a lot more distractions than what they did as a kid with the invention of Facebook and texting, but is this really the case? US child psychologist Professor Douglas Gentile says Facebook and texting aren’t any better or worse than what today’s parents did as teens: watch […]

With all the bright colours and exciting packaging, the supermarket can be an enticing place for young shoppers and marketers know all too well the influence of “pester power”. So how can you navigate the supermarket, avoiding the junk food and tantrums? It may not be impossible, in fact the following tips may help you […]

Keen to smooth the waters with Brad, Ange goes all out to show she’s willing to spend some quality time with their children. Angelina Jolie looked every inch the devoted mum posing on her Venice balcony with 20-month-old twins Knox and Vivienne last week. The scene follows tension between Ange and Brad Pitt over her […]

Madonna is taking her two adopted children, Mercy and David Banda, back to their birthplace of Malawi to visit their biological parents and take them “back to their roots”. The 51-year-old mother will pack up her whole family including her two other children 14-year-old Lourdes and 10-year-old Rocco. The ‘Material Girl’ singer believes it’s important […]