I’m a rookie at this, but here are five ideas I’ve come up with to get the most out of the precious time we have together. I’d love to hear from other working mums who have ‘quality time’ tips for newbies like me.

I can’t explain the despair I felt after having my beautiful baby girl.  It crept up upon me slowly, dealing with losing babies and the anxiety that was caused throughout this pregnancy, until finally, I couldn’t bear to face the day ahead.

Are you a Helicopter Parent? A Lawnmower Parent? Or a Que Sera Parent? Most of us evolve through these stages of parenting. As parents, we can be far too hard on ourselves and live in fear.

I have previously written about how children are wired to need both a mother and father. This is a fact that has come into much sharper focus for me as our little Squish has begun regularly calling out our names.

To be honest, I still struggle with criticism from time to time, because the lie that I have to be perfect to be loved still resurges whenever it gets a chance. I still do battle, but I am no longer unarmed.

Until the 1970s, men were banned from the birthing suite. But fathers are now moving from breadwinner and disciplinarian to involved parent.

The peace we are looking for can be visual or auditory, or something else entirely, but the point is, we are always seeking it. Always. And that means that we are never content, for there is always something that could be improved.

Conversations about relationships, dating, and intimacy need to start early (probably around the age of eight years). These chats need to happen so we can educate our children about how to have healthy relationships.

These are the simple ‘I can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself’ solutions to life’s little problems. Here are my top ten favourite life hacks that have literally changed my life!

Why, oh why, does parenting bring out this bizarre competitive streak in us? One mother posted an article begging her friends to please stop bragging across social media about how they’re winning at natural birth and parenting.

Okay, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: This mother-shaming has got to stop! And what’s really made me mad this time is that it’s a mummy blogger having a condescending dig at one of her own!

After two decades of caring for other people’s children, Emma believes she can sum up the problem with modern parents with one simple test: Pour your child’s milk into a pink sippy cup. If they declare, ‘But I wanted the blue one!’, what do you do?

This really highlighted for me the simplicity of quality time with our kids. Building memories and relationships with our kids can be very budget-friendly and therapeutic.

Smoke-free spaces will help to ensure a more rapid decline in female smoking rates, with flow-on effects for rates of maternal smoking, promoting the health of mothers and their unborn babies.

Living a healthier and happier life doesn’t require a major overhaul of your habits – it’s about small steps to improve short and long-term health, improving your life expectancy and taking time to enjoy every day along the way.

My house is a mess (well, actually it isn’t any more because this cleaner is really, really good!), I meet most deadlines at 12.01 a.m. and my kids are just plain exhausting, but they know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I love them.

In my opinion, there’s nothing more attractive than a man who’s a great dad. Becoming parents has brought out parts of ourselves we would never have known were there.

Last week was National Families Week. A time to pause and reflect on what your family means to you. To celebrate what makes your family unique. So, what makes your family unique?

Friends who knew we were trying for a baby would often bring it up and so, for anyone who’s wondering, here’s what NOT to say to your childless friend.

Common sense parenting isn’t so common sense, and the support networks once available to new parents are no longer there. But is it our schools’ responsibility to train parents?