EDITOR’S PICKS

A Spectrum Of Understanding: Living with asparagus!
Anne-Marie LeBel gradually learns to let go of her former expectations as her family adjusts to the fact that both of her sons have autism. Mum, I think my little boy is autistic. The pain descended on me all at once, and the tears fell...
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16 October, 2019
Germ Crimes: True or False
As family life increasingly unfolds around the hub of the home – the kitchen – just how much of a germ warrior do you really need to be? Ed Halmagyi, chef, parent and author of An hour’s the limit, Good Food in less than 60...
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15 October, 2019
The Highly Sensitive Grown-Up
A highly sensitive person herself, therapist Heidi Gaspar feels that the trait is a delight. Being highly sensitive certainly has its challenges but a glass-half-full approach lets me respond to opportunities. An Orchid-Dandelion metaphor by two psychologists in 2011 suggests two distinct sensitivity patterns, the...
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15 October, 2019
Allergic To The 21st Century: Have we become too clean and healthy for our own good?
Part Two in Dr Sam Tormey’s look at the nature of allergies and our growing propensity to suffer from them. “Childhood food allergy has become a major public health problem. Concern over the rapidly rising incidence of food allergy is magnified by the extremely rare...
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15 October, 2019
school swimming programs alone not enough to keep kids safe around water
Most children who only learn to swim by attending intensive school swimming programs can’t swim a year later, placing children at greater risk of drowning, Deakin University researchers have found. Peninsula Leisure, in partnership with Deakin University, has conducted a world-first study into the learning...
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14 October, 2019
Circumcision-The Kindest Cut?
Dr Sam Tormey discusses the medical and ethical issues surrounding infant circumcision. For the majority of males, the presence or absence of the foreskin will make little appreciable difference to health, self-image or sexual function. On a steaming hot day in the middle of the...
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08 October, 2019

Celebrating Mothers

When Pregnancy Disables
Anna Bourozikas was shocked when pregnancy temporarily disabled her. I was 34 weeks into my first pregnancy, standing at the kitchen sink washing the dishes when I felt a sharp pain rush through my right leg and groin. My leg buckled and I collapsed to...
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11 September, 2019
Pregnancy: The Weight Of Expectation
Family medical history, fear and trepidation take their toll on Karen Weeks, even after the birth of her perfectly healthy son. We all know parenthood is difficult. We know because we’re parents and have experienced it firsthand. But before having children, I had no idea...
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09 July, 2019
Something Else
Elspeth Ives explains to her five-year-old employer why she chooses to stay home with him and his siblings. “When did you decide you didn’t want to be anything, Mum?” my five-year-old son asked me on the way home from school. My very purpose and many...
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04 April, 2019
Book review: The Juggle
Inspirational stories from mums juggling it all by Steph Adams and Samantha Brett. (Penguin Random House Australia, softback $39.99) The expensive cover of this softback coffee-table style book looked promising, covered with the head shots of some of the interviewees the authors canvassed about their...
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01 April, 2019