For most first-time parents, we focus on the pregnancy, reading “what to expect when your expecting”, religiously following the size of our fetus “grape, apple, pear, peach, grapefruit and “look darling! This week we grew fingernails – awww”. We prepare ourselves for birth, knowing full well that birth will be painful – but when the time arrives, the pain is nothing like what people have tried to explain – and neither is what happens once your baby arrives and all the wonderf

Some time ago, perhaps even ten years, my eldest son asked me why lying is wrong. I was stumped. In the moment I couldn’t think of a reason beyond “Because it is! Because good people don’t do it.” I was shocked by my inability to answer the question quickly, succinctly, and thoroughly when put on the spot. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that if I can’t show or explain to this young child that there’s a good reason lying is wrong, how do I teach him not to do

Kindy graduation: a participation award, setting our kids up for failure Kindy graduations really get me riled up. A graduation gown and a mortar board, not to mention a furled certificate and professional photos, for a four year old who has not achieved a thing, is ridiculous. It’s beyond ridiculous actually. It is this sentiment that is setting our kids up for failure. The child who overcame separation anxiety, the child who learnt to speak without a lisp, the child who has