Your child’s first breath, their first cry, the first time you feel their skin on yours and the first time they stare straight into your eyes. These are the firsts that change you.
Paula Kuka
This is my Mother’s Day column, which is appropriately two weeks late. Mums tend to make sure everyone else is being looked after first which often means there isn’t much time left for ourselves.
I have a complicated relationship with playgrounds. But we go anyway, because I know that playgrounds are undeniably beneficial for children’s development.
Need a holiday? Can’t get away? No worries. Mum’s can find a holiday in the most unlikely of places...
Sometimes it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the worrying I need to do.
As we connect more online, we need to remember our “real life” manners in the virtual world.
Why are our kids angels for everyone else and little terrors at home?
We all have rights. But sometimes it’s up to us adults to help children assert theirs.
Stop trying to compare yourself to other (human) parents and instead, take your cue from the animal kingdom.
When they’re babies it’s easy. Sleep, food, rashes and coughs. As they get older, you need to start parenting a particular person. Not the child you thought you would have — the child in front of you.
I know of children who are four and five who are asking their parents if they are ugly, or questioning if they are too fat. If only we could preserve the wonderful self-confidence of youth.
Adults don’t like getting thrown into situations unexpectedly, so why do we expect our kids to adapt so readily?
