Parenting

WHAT’S WITH KIDS + CUBBIES? Liz Evans The experience of entering this space was significant to me, because it was my space, where I made the rules … I chose who could enter, what happened there and, most importantly, whether or not to leave it in a mess! My kids have always made cubbies. As […]

“We have the capacity to be the most compassionate beings on the planet” “If you’re highly competitive and you only see things as a win or lose, then you can start to turn off your compassionate tendencies” “Experiments have shown that children as young as eighteen months show an inclination to help adults who are […]

All you need is a box with different compartments! You can use an egg carton, an old painting tray, an ice-cube tray or a chocolate box. Simply paint each section with a different colour and you are set for foraging. /// It can be hard to imagine the world that came before us thousands of […]

PARENT OPINION BY NICK LONG My dad knows how to catch fish in almost any waterway. He can fix and make stuff, not expertly, but with ingenuity that makes you think that if we were marooned somewhere, we’d survive. (He reckons the secret is to always have cable ties.) And Dad does all the other […]

Last night my kids and I sat on the living room floor, bent over colouring books, singing to ’80s music playing on the radio. Well, I was singing. They were asking me if various singers were dead yet, because clearly anyone alive in the ’80s must be so old now that they are practically knocking […]

We all know Band-Aids. They’re one of those rare brand name things that transcended from regular grocery item to become synonymous for an entire category of product–in this case, what’s technically known as an adhesive bandage.  People all over the world, from Kempsey to Kentucky, yell for a Band-Aid when they have a minor accident, […]

“Why are my beautiful kids SO worried? Is it me? My first port of call is to blame myself. With three different fathers to my four kids, it’s clear that I am the common denominator. Damn! I really wanted to blame their fathers.” My four kids all have various presentations of anxiety. My eldest has […]

My first child was born. And it turned out that I was an amazing parent. So good, in fact, that my baby ate and slept and had lie-ins. We took him everywhere: the beach, the pub, on planes. He smiled at everyone, and was settled and happy and delightful. I was “BORN TO DO THIS. […]

1. Avoid reassurance: Our first instinct is to tell our child that there’s nothing to worry about; meanwhile, their brain is telling them that it’s a life-or-death situation. Saying “don’t worry, it’s going to be okay” simply tells our child that we don’t understand what they’re feeling. Validate their anxiety and then set about solving […]

The following bedtime meditation for kids combines relaxation and visualisation techniques to encourage kids to calm themselves before sleep. Before you try it, carry out your usual bedtime routine, tuck them in and turn out the light. Meditation can literally make your brain bigger. A study by Harvard neuroscientists found that just eight weeks of […]

Here are 4 delicious apple recipes that you will keep coming back for! First up, Apple Cinnamon Pancakes! APPLE CINNAMON PANCAKES · 1 cup buckwheat flour · 1 cup whole wheat flour · 1 tbsp raw sugar · 2 tsp baking powder · pinch of salt · 1 1/4 cup buttermilk · 2 eggs · […]

An Article by Liz Evans with Colour Psychologist Angela Wright Back in the 1990s, iconic Icelandic singer Björk told me that she loved to wear orange. She felt it was a healing colour, and good for her soul.  At the time I thought it was a very Björk thing to say–typically lovely, and refreshingly original, […]