Kids Development
What makes a good mum? It all comes down to class
COSIMA MARRINER Mothers feed their child fresh fruit and vegetables, send them to private schools, enrol them in lots of extra-curricular activities and limit their television watching to the ABC.
Same genes, different strokes
Michaela Fox It’s true that no two children are the same. Behaviour, personality, and temperament ensure no two kids are alike, and you don’t need to look further than your own family for evidence of this.
Police investigate frolicking child
EAMONN DUFF A family is shattered after an innocent outing turned sour, writes Eamonn Duff.
Is Paltrow's website sexualising girls?
Shelly Horton First she was in trouble for not letting her kids eat carbs, now actress Gwyneth Paltrow has been accused of sexualising children.
Conquering a defeatist attitude
Sarah Wayland How do you help your child when they refuse to try new things out of a fear of failure?
Mum fail: my son's Easter hat was crap (and it’s all my fault)
AMBER ROBINSON There it was, amongst the notes for crazy hair day and the excursion to the environmental centre.
Teaching your child to be a good friend
Megan Blandford Help your children navigate the complexities of forming friendships, recognising good ones from bad, and being a good friend in return.
Trouble with toys
LISSA CHRISTOPHER A reliance on gifts to appease and reward children could be harming their development.
What's this love thing all about?
Staff writers What do kids really think about Valentine’s Day? Watch their hilarious responses to questions about love, crushes, and the special day.
Has your child fallen behind their peers?
KIMBERLEY O'BRIEN Are you looking for practical strategies to help your child develop at school this year? Kimberley O'Brien explains how a developmental assessment can help.
Drew vows she will be a better mother
Sharon Thompson Drew Barrymore fought back tears in an emotional TV interview as she vowed to give her newborn daughter the stable childhood she never had during her own troubled upbringing.
Mum teaches son to take a joke
Livia Gamble South Dakota mother fooled her 8-year-old son into believing he had bought a $50,000 car on eBay.
The birth order identitiy
Brooke Tasovac The idea that siblings clash, bond or relate to one another based on the order in which they were born may shed some light on the quality of the relationships between certain family members.
Helping children cope with tragedy
National Association of School Psychologists If you're struggling to explain the tragic events that unfolded at Sandy Hook school last week to your children here are some ways you can help them work through their emotions.
Positive advice for kids
KIMBERLEY O'BRIEN Kimberley O'Brien tells you how you can help kids rule out the negatives life throws at them and find the positive influences they need to function better each day.
How kids make hypocrites of us
Sarah Macdonald The previously incomprehensible changes we make to our lives when we have kids.
Five simple steps to stop bed wetting
ADVERTORIAL Treatments you can use effectively to help kids stop bed wetting.
Bed wetting is not your child's fault
ADVERTORIAL There are many reasons why your child might be wetting the bed but doing it on purpose is not one of them.
The facts on Nocturnal Enuresis
ADVERTORIAL Nocturnal enuresis, more commonly known as bed wetting, happens when a child cannot control their bladder during the night, resulting in night time accidents.
I don’t want my children trick-or-treating
Cassandra Hill Is it compulsory to celebrate Halloween with my kids? Cassandra Hill feels the pressure to succomb to the American treasure.
Why we need an International Day of the Girl Child
Ian Wishart Only when the barriers are broken will girls across the world achieve their potential.
From trainer to ninja author
KATIE CARLIN The release of Tiffiny Hall's first children's novel marks the beginning of a new chapter in 'The Biggest Loser' trainer's life.
Video: Monster tooth extraction
Staff writers Losing your first tooth is a momentous occasion. Especially if you get to use your favourite monster truck to do all the hard work for you.
Taboo topic keeping kids at risk
KATIE CARLIN Sexual abuse affects one in four girls and one in seven boys in Australia under the age of 18. That's why we need to start educating our kids about body safety - and why one child educator is doing what she can to get the conversation started.
Fatherhood
This is what good parenting looks like
Christopher Scanlon Father wears skirt in public to show solidarity with his son who likes to dress as a girl.
Sedentary lifestyles robbing kids of motor skills
Melissa Davey with James Robertson Most children are unskilled at basic movements such as throwing, running and jumping, according to a landmark study linking NSW children's lack of fundamental movement skills with their sedentary lifestyles.
Girl with Down Syndrome stars in swimwear campaign
AMBER ROBINSON Meet Valentina Guerrero. This little cutie-pie is 10 months old, and the new face of Spanish swimwear label Dolores Cortés. Valentina also has Down Syndrome.
The great lies of childhood
Andie Fox Should we really care about whether children spend enough time climbing trees?
Friendships and social skills
QUIRKY KID Making friends can be harder for some kids than others but there are ways you can help develop your child's social skills to ensure they can build healthy friendships now and in the future.
The 'pee-wee Picasso' returns to New York
Staff writers At the tender age of two Aelita Andre was dubbed the “pee-wee Picasso” now a well-spoken and excitable five-year-old, Aelita continues to take the art world by storm with her second exhibition at the Agora Gallery in New York.
Can kids and alcohol ever mix?
Paul Chai After a hard day’s work it is traditional to head to the pub for a drink and a dissection of the day’s events. Is it so wrong if one of those people is a five-year-old?
Bully proof your kids
LAKSHMI SINGH Australia placed in the worst category for bullying by a study of almost 40 countries.
Benign neglect is good for kids
Karen Malone In Japan, kindergarten kids walk home from school without adults.
There's no such thing as a good divorce: the kids always suffer
ADELE HORIN EVEN a ''good'' divorce may not protect children from the fall-out of a marriage breakdown.
Who wants to be a stage parent?
Joseph Kelly Every parent wants the best for their children and to see them excel in any field they choose to tackle. That should be a given. But there are some parents, particularly with kids who have a flair for the arts, who perhaps want it just a little too much.
Embracing spontaneity helps make holidays child's play
Damon Young Parents stand to learn a great deal by dabbling in the art of creative uncertainty.
It's a boy, after years of mystery
THEY referred to the baby as ''the infant'', allowed the child to play with only ''gender-neutral toys'' and alternated between girls' and boys' outfits for their offspring.
Aussie school-girl rocks Youtube
Staff Writers This Aussie eight-year-old looks set to take the hardcore music scene by storm.
Betraying our girlhood
Clementine Ford What's wrong with ponies and dolls? How did "girl" become an insult? It's time to reclaim the power of pink.
Fat, apps and angry kids: The best of 2011
From Joanna McMillan's advice on all things nutritional to Nick Broughall's tips on what's best in apps for kids here are the top ten articles of 2011.
All I want for Christmas is ... a role model
Paula Joye While Barbie might not have been perfect she was a far cry from the sexualised Bratz dolls millions of little girls will be unwrapping this Christmas.
Shelter from the storm
Foster parent Claire* shares her diary of the last year. What emerged was a powerful insight into the joys and heartbreaks of those who refuse to give up on our most vulnerable children.
Can you fight consumer culture?
Cassandra Hill Even toddlers can be tech-savvy, brand-aware mini-consumers these days. Can you bring up your children free of consumerism – or is it possible to reprogram them as they get older?
Staying together for the kids
Heidi Davoren When home life is toxic are you really doing the kids a favour?
Pool safety pointers
KATIE CARLIN With the weather warming up and summer fast approaching we are about to enter the most dangerous months for kids around the pool.
Why I love Halloween!
JUSTINE DAVIES Whether you do or don’t agree with the tradition or the commercialization of Halloween, the fact is that it can be a really fun few hours for the whole neighbourhood.
Child support dodgers our national disgrace
Heidi Davoren If you chose to bring a child into the world, you commit to providing for them. The marriage may have ended but your parental responsibilities haven't.
Hair today, gone tomorrow, only the dream counts
ANDREW DADDO IT'S not quite having someone throttle one of your children, but I wonder if it's the same kind of thing.
Helping kids with grief and loss
QUIRKY KID When a child experiences the death of a loved one, be it a close relative, friend or even pet, it can often be difficult for adults to help the child deal with their loss and grief.
Little white lies
Bern Morley I recently came across my daughter's weekend journal from Year One. In it, she makes out that her parents are divorced and teaching her to speak ghetto.
How to help kids transition after divorce
KIMBERLEY O'BRIEN To prepare children for overnight access, it is important for both parents to put their differences aside in the best interests of the children.
Garden variety playgrounds come in for spray
Melissa Davey SWINGS and slippery dips are facing stiff competition from a new generation of ''smart playgrounds'' to capture the attention of children in the digital age.
Forming friendships and keeping them
KATIE CARLIN It may have been awhile since you dealt with the dilemmas of playground politics but forming friendships and keeping them is a learning curve your kids are facing every day.
To bed with my kids, perchance to sleep...
Heidi Davoren I’m not a morning person. Then again, I’m not really a night person either, but I definitely hate getting up early.
Managing attention difficulties
QUIRKY KID Not all children with attention difficulties have ADHD. All children will have periods of inattention at some point for various reasons such as being tired, hungry or disinterested in the current task.
Milestones ahead for your kids
Brooke Tasovac Children of this age usually enjoy taking part in a variety of new experiences, like to attend school, and will learn by watching, imitating and listening.
Social & emotional changes
Brooke Tasovac Children of this age gain self-confidence from acquiring new skills and like to tell people about their achievements.
Children struggling to catch up
Brooke Tasovac There are certain signs that could possibly indicate developmental delays in children aged between 5-8 years.
