![Photo: Shutterstock](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/v/a/x/image.related.landscape.380x253.h14v9m.png/1536221958523.jpg)
Top Resources
![friends](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/0/z/c/2/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.20zb8.gjzqgv.png/1444345197633.jpg)
Friendships and social skills
Making friends can be harder for some kids than others but there are ways you can help develop your child's social skills to ensure they can build healthy friendships now and in the future.
![How do you explain dementia to kids?](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/3/k/6/8/k/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.11kyjs.gjzqgv.png/1444366350150.jpg)
How to talk to children about grandparents with dementia
Helping children understand why their grandparent can no longer remember their name is a hard conversation to have, but here are ten practical tips to help guide you.
![Julia Roberts in the 1998 film, <i>Stepmum</i>.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/u/d/h/2/image.related.landscape.120x80.2udde.gjzqgv.png/1444345197633.jpg)
![Finding time to nurture your marriage after kids.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/3/3/d/x/0/image.related.landscape.120x80.33dua.gjzqgv.png/1444345197633.jpg)
![Kids made us stronger.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/3/n/t/n/d/image.related.landscape.120x80.12l09w.gjzqgv.png/1444654020791.jpg)
![Kimberley O'Brien](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/1/v/h/0/b/image.related.landscape.120x80.254el.gjzqgv.png/1444345197633.jpg)
Kimberley O'Brien
How to tell the kids you're separating
Latest
![Intergenerational care programs encourage relationship building between generations.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/v/2/7/image.related.landscape.300x200.h14v2i.png/1535963326647.jpg)
A new project shows combining childcare and aged care has social and economic benefits
Intergenerational care gives children and older people the chance to interact, resulting in significant benefits for participants and the wider community.
![Photo: Shutterstock](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/l/r/m/image.related.landscape.300x200.h14lpy.png/1535862189300.jpg)
9 ways parents can help kids cope with jealousy
There's no point trying to vanquish the emotion. But the behaviour it leads to can be damaging.
![“I can’t think of an example in popular media of a really good father-daughter relationship,” says clinical psychologist ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/l/e/s/image.related.landscape.300x200.p50063.png/1536279071840.jpg)
'I really feel I mucked it up': When dads and daughters disconnect
The father-daughter bond has long been recognised as special. That is, until she hits puberty – at which point it often fractures.
![Anna with her mother, Mary, on her mother's birthday in 2012.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/l/j/v/image.related.landscape.300x200.p5006m.png/1536289398438.jpg)
'We would have screamed at every official if we had known what was to come'
After years of fearing the worst for my troubled daughter, I received the phone call I had been dreading, but there was a twist.
![What a bad dad. Always bailing my kids out of trouble, never letting them feel sadness or stress - it was practically ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/b/q/0/a/image.related.landscape.300x200.p500ph.png/1536289756481.jpg)
Always too supportive, too loving. What a bad dad
I was a wonderful dad - but I was too wonderful; it’s a terrible parenting mistake and I really regret doing it.
![A fatherless Father's Day](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/n/p/2/image.related.landscape.300x200.h14nlr.png/1535616883957.jpg)
Fatherless Father's Day: 5 things I do to make it easier
Father's Day when you don't have a dad can be a difficult time.
![Photo: Shutterstock](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/p/o/s/image.related.landscape.300x200.h14pog.png/1535616797562.jpg)
What type of relationship should I have with my co-parent now we’re divorced?
You don't have to be best friends, you just have to think of the kids.
!["I'm glad my daughter was suspended from school."](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/f/r/2/image.related.landscape.300x200.h14fmw.png/1535465009447.jpg)
Why I was secretly pleased about my child's suspension
At first I was horrified. And then I actually started to see a big positive in all of this.
![Photo: Shutterstock](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/e/4/p/image.related.landscape.300x200.h14e55.png/1535071324345.jpg)
How to tell your child you’re getting divorced
Telling your children you and your partner aren't going to be together anymore is a significant change in their lives.
![Photo: Shutterstock](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/4/8/r/8/image.related.landscape.300x200.h148ra.png/1534840143661.jpg)
'Mums' group' mentality excluding new dads, study finds
Researchers say first time dads are missing out on vital information and support because they are not made welcome in new parent groups.
![A psychologist's strategy had implications for daughter - and mother.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180907142319im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/1/3/c/j/p/image.related.landscape.300x200.p4zxnf.png/1534926650768.jpg)
I thought my daughter was the problem. It was me
A 2017 Medibank survey found that a third of mums suffer from stress compared to a quarter of the general population.
Search pagination