In this essay, Annie Ridout discusses the impact the pandemic is having on children and wonders when the Government will start to prioritise children’s mental and physical needs over football matches…
parenting
Family
There is nothing wrong with shyness in children. In fact, shy children often do well at school, are better behaved, listen attentively to others and are easier to look after. So let’s stop trying to change them…
Family
There’s something Annie Ridout is finding increasingly frustrating. Why are parents no longer telling their kids the difference between right and wrong, and that it’s not OK to hurt other children?
Work Life
Three years into running a digital parenting platform, Annie Ridout reflects on what it has taught her about families, feminism, diversity and the online world. Mostly, that it is all a constant work-in-progress…
Features
Being at home with the kids is rarely a walk in the park. It’s more likely a mega tantrum, poo explosion and realisation that you forgot the nappy bag, while in the park. If you’re finding the kids challenging, don’t worry; help is at hand…
Work Life
As a single parent, the flexibility of freelance work enables Keryn Potts to drop her four-year-old daughter off at preschool and pick her up. “Childcare does not suit people who work late, weekends, or need flexibility,” she says…
Family
As a child, you’re taught to avoid strange men in parks, says dad-of-one Joel Defries. “But once you have a child you BECOME that weirdo in the park. You can’t get enough of mindless chats with strangers by the swings.” Joel Defries on the realities of fatherhood…
Family
We often hear about women becoming mothers, and how their lives transform. But what’s it like for the father? Joel Defries shares his honest, hilarious and probably rather relatable thoughts on his first year as a father…
Family
The early years of your child’s life are integral to their later happiness, so why are we told so little about them? Claudette Anderson – mother, and co-founder of Holding the Baby; a new kind of antenatal class – discusses the support parents need during these formative years…
Work Life
When Nicola Emmett returned to her marketing role after maternity leave, she found the hours and commute no longer worked for her. She needed flexible work that would fit around childcare so she quit and – after a long, hard search – landed the dream job…