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. ...

Anger feels right in the moment, but no child wants an angry parent. Below is some great advice on how to deal with your anger to become more effective and loving as you raise your kids. To be honest, I still struggle with anger sometimes, especially when I’m tired. Every time I think I’m making progress, I find myself yelling again. I’ll even stamp the occasional foot and wonder to myself ...

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 ...

Schooling from home may look like homeschooling, but the similarities are only superficial. At a fundamental level, the two are drastically different. Criticising current trends can be like walking into a minefield without a map. One size doesn’t fit all. Despite the assertions of blanket “equality” and blurred distinctions, some distinctions do matter. Everyone is of equal value, but not everyone, nor everything is equal.  For instance, beliefs may align with facts, ...

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.

We recently analysed the feedback from 400 participants in our online marriage preparation course. The results to the question, “On which of the following areas would you like more formation/education”, surprised us; the most requested item among eleven options was, ‘Improving Communication’. Communication and Relationships Why the surprise? Everybody knows that communication is foundational to happy relationships. The surprise is that most people we talk to believe that they are already ...

The life of a mum is difficult, but, despite the chaos and hardship, the unglamorous mum is beautiful through it all. Although at times our kids drive us crazy, it is the little, precious moments that make it totally worth it in the end! The Unglamorous Mum Last Friday afternoon, I caught sight of myself in a mirror at Rockmans as I was heading to the change room to try on ...

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 ...

The young boy said in awed tones, “Is it a bird? Is it a plane?… No, it’s my father”. There are numerous types of fathers and dad jokes to suit them. Check out some of my favourites! The Sporty Dad: Seems to be always in gym clothes. Has a bright cheery attitude every day. A can-do attitude. Why did the scarecrow win an award? A. Because he was outstanding in his ...

Happy Father’s Day. Many are getting breakfast in bed, Father’s Day cards and lots of smoochie kisses from their children (as Bandit, the dad in Bluey, would say). Not only that, most dads will receive their yearly supply of socks and undies all on the one day. Even more exciting is that the new Dads4Kids TV community service ad is being played on TV all over Australia. Watch it below if ...

Tossing up on whether to go with a car that has more seats? Here’s why we chose a 7-seater SUV over a 5-seater sedan.  When I found out I was pregnant with Phoebe, I knew a new car was on the cards for our family. The surprise pregnancy was the catalyst for us making a decision on whether to purchase an SUV or another sedan. The SUV won in the end, ...

It was a sunny Saturday morning; I was dining alfresco at a restaurant on a busy street, casually sipping my coffee, when I noticed a little girl wander past our table and down the street. Her mother was deep in conversation and didn’t notice. I didn’t want to cause alarm by yelling at her to watch her child from across the busy tables, so I walked toward the little girl. She ...

There was a time where I was anti-women getting into trades. I was an end-of-third year apprentice, had just finished my Diploma in Fashion Styling and I was about to complete my last block of TAFE for my plumbing apprenticeship. I was over plumbing. Over male tradies. Over male apprentices. I was over having to prove myself when I worked. I was over TAFE teachers who read from the Standards, rather ...

A life around the family home can at times feel like a race to complete each day’s requirements. Recently, like many others, I find myself being forced to slow down in what is usually a busy lifestyle. Caught trying to understand the current ‘Covid’ life and reflecting on what was, before covid. Pre-covid, my children participated in school competitive sports. I am a person that likes to blend in with people ...

Avoid “good cop, bad cop” parenting as much as possible. In fact, ditch it altogether. A system that elevates mums over dads, or dads over mums, doesn’t work. Good cop, bad cop parenting’s long-term costs negate any short-term benefits. The system is a recipe for favouritism, resentment and parental neglect. Potentially even divorce. Good cop, bad cop is a poor metaphor for parenting. It’s even worse as an instruction manual for ...

Listen to author Annette Spurr’s interview with Focus on the Family Australia here. ‘While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.’ ~ Angela Schwindt Nothing can truly prepare you for parenthood. The tears and tantrums, toilet training, sleepless nights, the worry that you’re not doing it right, or the indescribable love that changes everything. As soon as I found out ...

Some days, being a mother is just plain hard. Today was one of those days. I promised to take my boys to play mini golf. Secretly, I was looking forward to it more than they were! I’d been wanting to try out this place for months and finally the day had arrived but… My youngest was in a bad mood all morning; he threw a tantrum because there wasn’t enough honey ...

Mother, according to a well-known online encyclopedia, is: “A female parent of a child. Mothers are women who inhabit or perform the role of bearing some relation to their children, who may or may not be their biological offspring.” A mother, from the point of view of Wikipedia, sounds so perfectly neat and precise in definition. If only there was a textbook that was as neat and precise that could explain ...

A mother makes a father, and a father makes a mother. Parenthood happens in unison. So, it goes without saying that Mums are incredibly priceless and vital, just as Dads are. So why don’t we value mothers more than we do? Studies and anecdotal evidence show that mothers generally feel very under-appreciated. As men we must change that. Check out Dads4Kids‘ contribution to that change in the new “Love You Mum” ...

I could have titled this article The amazing things that happen when a father says “sorry”, but having the courage to say sorry and exercise forgiveness will work for anyone: dad, mum, male or female. Some years ago, at my daughter’s engagement party, I had the honour of giving a short speech. Recently I wrote about the fact that “in families, change is the only constant”. What I didn’t tell you ...