Category Archives: fatherhood

Making Parenting Easier: Tips, Laughs, and Being Kind to Yourself

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 […]

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How to Support Someone with Postnatal Depression / Postpartum Depression: 9 Ideas

Do you know someone with PND/PPD? The answer is ‘yes’ Around 10-15% of women who give birth experience postnatal depression, so if you know more than eight women who are mothers, you probably know someone who has been through it – whether she knew that’s what it was or not. Here are two facts you […]

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Jamie Oliver and I Are Not on the Same Parenting Page

It seems that Jamie Oliver – cheeky television chef with the ‘beestung lips’ and the Essex accent – and I aren’t on the same page when it comes to our attitude to children. To put the differences between us starkly and bluntly, I’m not into assault, or punishment, or treating children as lesser humans. I […]

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The Christmas Promise, by Alison Mitchell, illustrated by Catalina Echeverri

Top 10 Christmas Picture Books (that Feature Jesus)

From Rudolf and Santa to Slinky Malinki and the proverbial Pukeko in a Punga Tree, there’s a Christmas picture book for everyone. In most bookshops, though, Baby Jesus is hidden behind Grinches, trains and elves. If you’re in the market for Christmas books for kids that tell the story of God coming into the world as […]

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Wisdom for a Rejected Parent [Guest]

Welcome back to Jon, who wrote this great Guide to Supporting New Dads. He and his wife Jannine have been married for 14 years, and are currently the pastoral care directors of Living Well Church in Rotorua.  My child doesn’t seem to like me very much at the moment, and I can’t quite understand why.  My plan […]

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8 Essential Tips for Supporting a Pregnant Partner

I often tell my husband he needs to write a book about how to be an awesome partner to a pregnant person. It seems more likely that I’ll write a blog post about it though, so here we are. My husband was a superhero supporter through my pregnancy (and beyond). When your partner’s pregnant, it’s […]

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New Year’s Guide to Supporting New Dads [Guest]

For today’s post I have a special guest writing team with some profound things to say. Jon and Jannine are old friends of mine and the parents of Caitlin (3) and Isobella (11 months) – aren’t these girls delightful? Jannine and Jon have been married for 14 years, and are currently the pastoral care directors […]

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God, Kids and Parents: Myk and Liam [Guest]

Welcome back to Dr Myk Habets from Carey Baptist College! In his earlier guest post on praying with his kids, Myk (pronounced ‘Mike’) talked about how he uses names for all three persons of the Trinity when he prays with his little daughter. In this update, written a year or so later, in 2011, for […]

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God, Kids and Parents: Myk and Sydney [Guest]

Dr Myk Habets is a theologian at Carey Baptist College, where I studied for four years. He’s pretty flash! As well as lecturing in systematic theology, hermeneutics and ethics, he’s head of the newish Carey Graduate School and Director of the RJ Thompson Centre for Theological Studies. He’s also a husband and father, and a […]

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