Parenting and Families
Mini CEOs
Are we all overcomplicating our kids' lives?
Paul Chai Paul Chai swears there are more birthday parties than kids at his school.
The pain and privilege of deconstructing my mother's life
Bernadette Morley It really is quite something. Deconstructing a life that has spanned more than 76 years without either that person's consent or supervision.
Career inspo
Where are the videos inspiring boys to do 'feminine' jobs?
Kasey Edwards There's no shortage of inspirational videos challenging social limitations placed on girls, but without the same for boys they won't solve anything.
SAHM sacrifice
If I had my time over, I wouldn't choose to be a stay-at-home mum
Megan Blandford "I've landed on my feet, but I nearly didn't get here, and that level of sacrifice just isn't worth it," writes Megan Blandford.
Good sport
Growing up a sports hater in a football family
Patrick Lenton "I've had to learn to be OK with the fact that my birthday gets celebrated around the schedule of the AFL Grand Final," writes Patrick Lenton.
Role reversal
When you have to parent your mother
Helena Andrews "What's funny about the question of motherhood and daughterhood is how easily the once permanent-seeming titles get wiped away."
Kasey Edwards
Do we really have to love every moment of parenting?
Kasey Edwards "The thing about parenting is that it doesn't stop. Every day, every night, every week, every month for YEARS," writes Kasey Edwards.
Unplanned pregnancy
Facing an unexpected pregnancy when it may be 'now or never'
Erin Riley Choice can be a complicated matter for women with fertility issues, as Erin Riley discovered.
Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's is not a gentle process
Eliza-Jane Henry-Jones "Alzheimer's is not forgetting where you've put your coat or the names of your family - it's forgetting what a coat is and seeing your family as strangers who are trying to hurt you."
Queer parenting
Reconciling being queer with my desire for motherhood
Katy Chatel Katy Chatel had to let go of rigid expectations to live the life she'd always wanted.
Meshel Laurie
When 'having it all' just doesn't add up
Meshel Laurie For as long as I can remember I've been focused on accumulating stuff - money, objects, jobs, friends. So why does it feel like grasping at straws?
Career advice
Why I encouraged my literature-loving daughter to be an engineer
Lisa Papademetriou I don't want my daughter to follow in my career footsteps, and it turns out that I am not alone.
Tough love
I am grateful for the parental pressure I resented as a child
Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen "As I begin to think about what I want for my own future children, I develop a deeper understanding of my parents' decisions."
Mother's Day
Go call your mum - science says it'll make you feel better
Amy Joyce People overwhelmingly feel better after a chat to Mum, even if she doesn't have the solution to their problems.
Hello baby
Janie Barrett Intrigued by the very private nature of birth, photographer Janie Barrett took her camera into the delivery ward to capture the awe-filled moment when a woman becomes a mother.
Midwifery
The heartache of Mother's Day for those who've lost children
Fiona McArthur At this time of year, midwife Fiona McArthur thinks also of the mothers who have empty arms.
Refugee parenting
Where going to mothers' group is truly a lifeline
Ruby Hamad "We are in difficult situations. We can't even go back to where we came from, and these hard circumstances of make things worse for our kids."
Mother's Day
Why aunts are the ultimate wingwomen of modern parenting
Celina Ribeiro "My sister, like scores of aunts the world over, is essential to the bringing up of my child," writes Celina Ribeiro.
Gabrielle Lane
Why 'the bank of Mum and Dad' isn't helping anyone
Gabrielle Lane The trend for parents to continue to give money to their offspring well into adulthood is bad for young people as well as old, writes Gabrielle Lane.
Family memories
Visiting my 90-year-old mother at her aged care facility
Beth Spencer "In the old days, this would be called a 'Home'. Nowadays they've dropped the pretence. A 'residence' or 'facility' is, after all, more accurate," writes Beth Spencer.
Parenting
Trying (and failing) to model bravery for my child
Lisa Papademetriou There is value in modelling being afraid of something, and doing it anyway.
Mata Hari mums
Kathy Lette With their natural talent for snooping, middle-aged mothers really do make the best spies, says Kathy Lette.
Paul Chai
What to do when parenting styles clash
Paul Chai "Recently, after years of being the United States of Parental Agreement, my wife and I have found that we are not always on the same page," writes Paul Chai.
Moving on
When your widowed father finds someone new
Susan Margolis Stillman "Intellectually, I am all in. Emotionally, however, it's a little hard for me," writes Susan Margolis Stillman.
The talk
How young is too young to talk to girls about sexual pleasure?
Kasey Edwards We shouldn't make the mistake of trying to protect our children's innocence by maintaining their ignorance, writes Kasey Edwards.
Anxiety
Learning to parent my daughter, and myself, through anxiety
Lyz Lenz "Have I not made a safe enough home? Did my worry slide down my DNA and into her? Did my husband give her blue eyes, while I gave her fear?"
When mothers are considered no better than graduates
Kasey Edwards We've been fed a line that workplaces are more friendly to mothers now. Let's get real.
Footy culture
Why I don't want my daughter to be a footy fan
Kasey Edwards Think football "isn't just for boys"? Kasey Edwards doesn't buy that.
Missing mum
Three years ago, my mother vanished without a trace
Three years ago, Amelia Kaiser's 42-year-old mother, Lorrin Whitehead, walked out of a supermarket in Bannockburn, Victoria. She has not been seen since.
Hawaii High-O
Kerri Sackville An overseas holiday casts a new glow on life at home, says Kerri Sackville.
Divorced parenting
The heartache of every second summer holiday as a divorced mum
Erin Mantz "You prepare yourself for a lot of things when you get divorced and have kids. But holidays alone are especially hard,"
Rainbow family
Why do people ask which of my mums is my 'real mum'?
Michael Kruger Michael Kruger, who was raised by two mums, says "what defines a parent is the relationship".
Parenting
How to be a better financial role model for your child
Kimberly Palmer Kimberly Palmer says she is very careful about the way she speaks about money around her young children.
Young people and the inescapable world of pornography
Judith Ireland Just as pornography is only a few clicks away for adults on the internet - so it is for children.
The truth about parenting a gifted child with autism
Louise France Six-year-old Iris' art has thousands of fans include Angelina Jolie. Here, her mother opens up about her unique challenges.
A child prodigy and her cat
Louise France Her thousands of fans include Angelina Jolie, who bought a painting. Her art makes global headlines. Meet Iris Grace Carter-Johnson and Thula, the pet who changed her life.
Kasey Edwards
Why is there still such a reluctance to give a child the mother's last name?
Kasey Edwards "It's time we start recognising the paternal baby-name tradition for what it really is: just another way to perpetuate inequality," writes Kasey Edwards.
More than words
Is it enough to show love, or do we need to say the words?
Peggy Frew Is saying the words "I love you" important in a relationship? Peggy Frew looks to her own family for answers.
More than words
Peggy Frew Is saying the words "I love you" important in a relationship? Peggy Frew looks to her own family for answers.
Puppy pride
Parents, please let me talk about my dogs
Patrick Lenton "The comparisons between my fur babies and your human babies are probably greater than the differences," writes Patrick Lenton.
Why I'm teaching my daughter to say 'yes'
Kasey Edwards We talk about the importance of teaching girls that it's okay to say "no". But what about saying yes?
When breastfeeding is a middle class, able-bodied privilege
Kasey Edwards For many women, breastfeeding isn't a choice. And those who want to "help mothers and babies" first need to understand that.
Parenting
Learning to get comfortable with my dad's gay marriage
Mary Pflum Peterson And how to explain to my young kids that their Grandpa is gay.
Grandparent trap
'I come home and every bone in my body aches'
Elana Benjamin Elana Benjamin looks at the taboo subject of grandmothers who are tired of being unpaid child minders. But why won't the 'grey army' revolt?
I'm not the uncompromising parent I thought I'd be
Mary Widdicks "My parenting doesn't always look like I imagined, but I've learned that parenting doesn't deal in ideals."
Kasey Edwards
When dads get praised for taking carer's leave
Kasey Edwards "In our culture, it's so foreign for men to be considered capable and willing carers that we don't even have a word for it," writes Kasey Edwards.
Generational change
Relax Mum, it's OK that I'm 30 and single
Britany Robinson My life is nothing like my parents' lives were at my age, and I am perfectly happy.
Screen detox
Samantha Selinger-Morris What would it be like to spend a week without television, iPad, iPhone, game console or computer? Samantha Selinger-Morris and her family find out.
How letting go of anger has allowed me to be a better mum
Lisa Rene LeClair It's a lesson that could have come at a dangerously high price and one that we all need to embrace.
Kasey Edwards
How kids are taught to devalue motherhood
Kasey Edwards "'Why did you go to uni if you just stay at home?' It was an innocent and unexpected question to my friend from her six-year-old daughter."
Fertility
I'm a high-risk pregnancy expert – And I'm struggling with my own fertility
Shannon M. Clark Despite my years of training and work with expectant mothers, I never realised how hard it would be to conceive at this age.
What to say when your daughter asks 'Do you think I’m cute?'
Kasey Edwards Our culture rewards girls and young women for being cute, but here's why we try to send a different message at home.
Don't use my son to justify abortion bans
Rachel E. Adams Anti-choicers have begun to use Down syndrome in their attempt to roll back women's reproductive rights. Here's why I won't stand for it.
Kasey Edwards
Is it okay for a six-year-old to wear a bra?
Kasey Edwards Kasey Edwards: "By prohibiting these kinds of activities, we run the risk of sexualising something that is innocent and reframing a game into an exercise in shaming and judgement."
My six-year-old transgender daughter should not have to use the men's bathroom
Tucker FitzGerald My daughter is in kindergarten. And I'm concerned about my community forcing her to share the bathroom with men.
Why does the 'fun parent' usually have a gender bias?
Paul Chai Would the kids even be aware of the concept of a Fun Parent unless a stupid advertising campaign pointed it out?
The stigma of a mother walking away from her family
Kasey Edwards And do we ever pause and think about why she chose to leave in the first place?
How I decided not to listen to every piece of pregancy advice
Olivia Campbell Even if you want to, you can't — because so much of the advice is contradictory.
What to do when you witness sexist parenting
Kasey Edwards I grew up surrounded by unchallenged casual sexism. But here's one thing I'm going to change.
Sarah Oakes
Why I won’t be watching any childbirth videos during my pregnancy
"Not everyone wants to be blissfully naive, but the choice, as with any choice about a woman's body, should be entirely hers," writes Sarah Oakes.
