Parenting is flipping hard work, yes? You’re responsible for, as my friend Jess says, tiny sociopaths. They’re cute, sure, but they have little in the way of empathy, self-control, or social graces. You get no sick leave. You’re operating on so little sleep that serious reading now means clicking ‘see more’ on Facebook. Communities like […]
It’s a great pleasure to welcome Sumitha Bhandarkar here today, the creator of afineparent.com. Sumitha created the fantastic infographic below, based on Dr Laura Markham’s new book, Peaceful Parent, Happy Siblings, and joins us to share some thoughts about raising loving siblings. Welcome, Sumitha! “Having one child makes you a parent; having two, you are a referee.” […]
This is part of a series aiming to help us all go easier on ourselves and make our parenting lives more enjoyable and satisfying. The whole series list is here and more links are at the bottom of the post. [Update: 2.5 years later I’ve revised this and added some stuff in. Feel free to suggest […]
Don’t you find it annoying when you’re watching one of those beautifully filmed, artistically arranged cooking shows on the telly and the really, really ridiculously good-looking presenter offers to whip up something for dinner in less than 20 minutes out of a few staple ingredients from the pantry? Actually, I wouldn’t find that annoying, I […]
What kind of parent were you going to be like? Did you always imagine yourself going on daily nature adventures or doing crafts with your pre-schoolers? Reading aloud around the fire on winter evenings? Dispensing your hard-won wisdom to a rapt audience of eager teenagers? If you thought about parenting much before you had kids, […]
I’m a fan of Oliver Burkeman’s Guardian column, and particularly of its title: This column will change your life. Awesome. This post was Angela’s idea, actually, and the tip that will change your life may or may not be above the line. Hopefully for lots of readers, the tip that will change your life will […]
My toddler has been deeply asleep for two hours, and looks like he won’t need anything more than a lying-down, half-asleep feed between now and morning. So why am I writing a blog post instead of catching up on the sleep I missed last night when he was up every hour? Because, like many parents, […]
Sesame Street is a great source of wisdom and inspiration, don’t you agree? Like this song, a regular when I was in the target demographic: So who are the people in your neighbourhood In your neighbourhood, in your neighbourhood? So who are the people in your neighbourhood? They’re the people that you meet When you’re […]
There is a special kind of heartbreak a parent feels when the meal they have cooked is described as ‘yucky,’ or refused altogether. If you are struggling with the stress, sadness and discouragement of battling with picky eaters (of whatever age!), this post is here to reassure you and help you and your family relax and […]
A little visitor came to our house for the first time recently. This was the conversation between the visitor and my four-year-old son, SBJ: Visitor: Whose bike is that? SBJ: Mine! V: It can’t be yours. It’s pink. Pink is a girl colour. SBJ: No, colours are for everyone. Pink is one of my favourite colours. […]