At no other time in history have so many great minds turned their attention to the emotional, intellectual and spiritual development of our children and teens? Which is a very good thing. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders, innovators, builders and creative thinkers. Our investment now in helping them realise their full potential in order to thrive and rise up to life’s many challenges is also an investment in the future. Which is why we’re so delighted to help spread the word about Young Minds, a wonderful new initiative from the producers of the hugely popular Happiness & Its Causes and Mind & Its Potential conference series. Win a Gold Pass worth over $1500! Read full article
...And this week a laptop shooting dad decided to use YouTube and Facebook to punish and humiliate his ungrateful 15 year old daughter for her disrespectful comments about him and his wife, and about all the chores she was expected to do ... I want to briefly comment on two things: Humiliation or shaming of children .... and mainstream and influential media commentators' comments ... Read full article
Our family was camping on the NSW South Coast last week, which is always a great time to do very little apart from swimming, fishing and eating, and reading – especially those books you’ve wanted to read for ages and haven’t had the time. One afternoon, just back from the beach, I looked across at the rest of the family, and they were all reading books they had been given for Christmas ... What struck me was that the books our kids were reading were ones they hadn’t read before, which was pretty unusual – even for our 14-year-old ... For our kids, repetitive reading was at its height when they were first starting to talk. Read full article
The funniest video I've seen recently and too cute - a father asks his toddler daughter who her favourite parent is - so funny. Read full article
While the shift towards shared parenting is real, a recent study found “seventy-five percent of men worry that their jobs prevent them from having the time to be the kind of dads they want to be.” And when asked what single change would make the greatest difference in their ability to juggle work and family life, fathers named workplace flexibility as their top demand. The research shows that fathers are right to want to spend more time with their children. Read full article
Some of you will have never heard of Problogger, nor of #pbevent (a label given to the blogging conference on Twitter) and so you may have been blissfully unaware of the gathering of some of Australia’s most enthusiastic, experienced and new bloggers in Melbourne on Friday 21st October 2011. And many of you were there with me - catching up with friends, learning and squishing into some of the floor-seating-only popular sessions. It was an energy-filled day ... Although the Problogger conference was not a gathering of parents, because I connect with so many parents online and offline, I wanted to first share with you the Twitter names of some of the beautiful parents I met before and at the event ... Read full article
It seems we have a new “barbecue stopper” about women and families, after comments last week by Perth obstetrician Barry Walters that it is selfish for older women to have babies. Defending himself from attack in the heated national debate that followed, Walters sought to defuse the political impact of his comments, by claiming that he was talking about “medical facts”, and the risks of later pregnancy, not “values”. Well, that’s another can of worms. Facts, after all, in their selection and presentation, can reveal as much as any overtly political comment.... Read full article
I grew up in a single parent household. My Mum, who was very young when I was born, raised me alone. I do not know my Dad. In fact, I know nothing about him. Not his name, nor the colour of his hair or the sound of his laugh. Nothing. Although it has impacted on me, I refuse to let it shape me. Some people have no parents. I had one amazing one. I am lucky. So, it wasn’t until I met an amazing man, married him and had three children that I started to truly understand what dads do. Here is my list of the 10 Things I’ve Learned About Dads. Read full article
Podcast interview on 4BC about a mother who said she loved one child more than another. Is that really the case or is this just a reaction to one child being harder to parent? Should parents worry about this? Does gender come into it? Let us know what you think. Read full article
Ever planned a fun day out with the children and then had your plans go out the window? I can think of two recent examples not quite meeting the idyllic family outing I had in mind. In hindsight, I am laughing and I’m still glad we forged ahead despite whingeing and helpful critiquing from the teenagers in the back of the car. We have three boys, now aged 15,13 and 9 - so you can probably imagine it’s a challenge to plan a family outing that meets everyone’s taste and criteria. Read full article
