Patricia Lee learns to take nothing for granted as the midwife called for the emergency obstetrician. As I slumped onto the delivery bed, panting and sweating after another contraction, I knew something was wrong. After spending the entire day in labour and pushing for hours, my...
Why First-Borns Rule the World and Later-borns want to change it by Michael Grose, published by Penguin Life, p/b RRP$34.99 (pub. June 1, 2021) Originally published as Why First-Borns Rule the World and Last-borns want to change it, 2003 this is fully revised and republished and updated...
Karen Brooks considers the implications for our children, and for us as parents and carers, of a culture of fear and anxiety. Be afraid, be very afraid,” warns Geena Davis’s character in the 1986 sci-fi horror movie The Fly. Many years later, it seems that as...
Lara Cain Gray recounts a hairy moment involving her son. My 10-month-old son ate a spider. Let’s not sugar-coat it (although I’m sure that it's a delicacy somewhere) – it was frightening and revolting in equal measure. We’d had a typically hectic morning trying to get our...
Pat Thomas relives his sort-of musical past when his son brings home his first recorder. A shrill, piercing sound hits me as soon as I open the front door, and the memories come flooding in – my childhood, warm summer days at school, yelling teachers and...
Kristy Chong talks about how to have ‘the period talk’ with your daughter If you cast your mind back to the day you got your first period, what do you remember? Were you scared of this new experience and did you know what it was? Did...
A UNSW report has raised concerns over how COVID-19 impacted online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) investigations globally. Key findings There were significant changes and disruptions to OCSE professional practice as a result of COVID-19. Major increases in reports and investigations into OCSE were not matched...
Acclaimed author-illustrator duo Mem Fox and Judy Horacek talk friendship, perfectionism and children’s books. What was your impression of each other when you first met? Mem: I was in Canberra for a literacy conference and Judy happened to have an exhibition there. Judy had drawn the cartoons...
Jane Elder no longer wonders whether her son is ‘gifted’ – she is just relieved that he has found his own niche. For two years, I stood by helplessly watching a vital and clever little boy transform into a bored and lonely, apathetic child who was...
It’s still unclear whether a shorter or longer gap between pregnancies increases the risk of complications. Amanda Henry reports Women often wonder what the “right” length of time is after giving birth before getting pregnant again. A recent Canadian study suggests 12-18 months between pregnancies is...
