Some parents worry that too much nurture can make children co-dependent. But the risk of too little is worse. You won’t believe what love and nurture does to your child’s brain. “I wish I hadn’t cuddled my babies so much,” said no mother, ever! It’s probably one piece of parenting advice I’m glad I didn’t take. Amongst the dozens and dozens of parenting books I read, some parenting ‘experts’ claimed that ...

Whether you’re toilet-training your kids or just trying to survive an outing to the shopping mall, we all have an embarrassing toilet story to tell! We all have embarrassing stories we’d rather not re-live … right? I have one or two that made my cheeks burn red. Okay, maybe it’s more like half a dozen. A few years ago, my daughter Esther decided to add one more incident to the list. ...

Here are some tips from an experienced mother on how you can succeed in transitioning your toddler from a cot to a bed. This post has been written in collaboration with Sleepmaker This year, Phoebe will be out of a cot and into a bed and I’m not sure how I feel about it because, being my last baby, this will mean this is the last time the cot will be ...

When extreme perfectionism becomes embroiled in a family context, it invariably leads to deep discontent. This is part 1 in a series on perfectionism and how to find peace in the midst of it. When you get right down to it, most perfectionists are searching for peace. Basically, we want to be able to look around at the world we’ve created and proclaim, like our Creator, “Everything is very good” and so ...

Orlando Battista said, “The best inheritance a parent can give his children is a few minutes of his time each day.” Orlando Battista is right. Our children don’t want things, they want us.  The team at our friends at the Fathering Centre in Kansas City USA had this to say in an article titled, “Kids Say THIS Is the Best Way to Be a Better Dad”. “As is often the case, ...

Have you ever dreamed a dream, had all the steps fall into place and suddenly you’re living your dream and it’s nothing like how you imagined it? Welcome to Parenthood We dream of the baby, but have no idea how that little person will change the rest of our lives. We then have that baby who turns our dream of becoming a mum into a frumpy, financially stretched, sleep-deprived banshee who just ...

I honestly believe that a lot of the struggles with our children have to do with the pressure we put on ourselves. We have set the bar so high that we hate ourselves if we don’t get it ALL done today.

I don’t know how many times I have looked at the clock since becoming a mum and have willed those handles to spin a little faster. There have been many a day when I have wished for nap time to come sooner and for bedtime to be brought forward. I’ve always contemplated why time feels like it goes forever when stopping and playing with kids on the floor, yet when life ...

Around half of all toddlers are considered fussy eaters, screwing up their nose at salad and pitching butternut pumpkin from their high chairs. Establishing healthy eating patterns in children is important and can have a big impact on their everyday health, growth and cognitive development. So, how do we avoid the daily food fight? Cancer Council Queensland has five tips to get parents started. One, be a good role model: Children ...

Alright then, just sign here and you can take him home. Home? Taking him home? And not just him, but my wonderful and rather tired and sore wife. There’s a lot involved in taking your baby home from hospital. You’ve got to have somewhere for them to sit in the car, somewhere for them to sleep at home, and a decent supply of nappies, cloths, creams, and so forth. We had ...

What on earth do I do now? That’s the thought that went through my head. I held my newborn son in my arms, I looked down into his eyes, and in him I saw someone who would be completely reliant on my wife and me for his every need, someone who I could build up or break down by my words and actions, and someone who would love me regardless of ...

Fatherhood; it’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times. Sorry Charles Dickens for stealing your thunder, but it’s true. Being a dad is one of the most wonderful things to ever happen to me, as well as one of the most terrifying. I’ve been a father for 11 years now, which is long enough to be able to reflect somewhat on the journey so far, and also long enough ...

Motherhood is fast becoming a dirty word. My daughter-in-law, mother of five girls  under 10 years of age was telling me how she is still getting asked, “When are you going back to work?” Her response is simple, “I’m a mother first and I am in no rush to leave my beautiful girls. I love being a mother.” When talking to other young mums I hear how they are made to ...

The Dad Dilemma is the title of an article in The Age about the challenges of child birth. Thea O’Connor, the writer, says, “Most Australian men are present and active at the birth of their children. But not everyone believes this is a good thing.” Having been present for the births of my five children, I quickly asked my wife for her opinion. She matter-of-factly stated, “You helped make the baby, ...

It has been a big week for royal babies. On Monday 22 July 2013, at 4.24pm Prince William and Princess Kate had a son, George Alexander Louis, whose destiny may well be the future King of England. On Sunday 21 July 2013, at 7.08pm my son and daughter-in-law had a baby girl, Annabelle Daisy Marsh, a true princess in every sense of the word. As Paul Harvey said, “Fathers are what ...

Dear Diary, IT’S A BOY! My beautiful daughter gave birth the other week to a beautiful boy, 8lb 3oz. I was supposed to speak in Parliament House at the Human Rights Conference about ‘DIDs’ that week. And you know what? Normally my work would take preference over my private life. That’s possibly why I am now divorced. But this time I said no. My beautiful daughter and the birth of my ...

It is nearly forty years ago since the first known father, an Australian, applied for legal custody of a baby girl and was subsequently granted legal custody of his baby daughter by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Though this father was granted legal custody of his baby daughter by the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the Department of Community Welfare and the Department of Social Security of the ...

I was 27 years old when, on my first day of teaching, I was presented with a class full of ten-year-old children. I remember thinking that I hadn’t seen or spoken to a ten-year-old since I was ten. I felt equally inadequate a few years later when I was handed my firstborn child. My knowledge of what was required of me was limited to an understanding that this creature was a ...