My husband recently travelled to the Philippines to a poor remote village community. He spent two weeks without TV, newspapers, his iphone and internet connection (mostly). He came back a changed man, convinced that our lives are unnecessarily busy, stressful and we are losing our…
This has always my perception of the home-schooled family. But here is the modern homeschooling family! Look! They seem almost….normal! In the last few years I have come across mums who homeschool or who were homeschooled. What was once a foreign concept full of harsh…
Some of the most precious moments we will have with our children are during play. Well, that’s what I tell myself during frustratingly drawn out games of hide and seek, games of mummies and daddies where I have to play the cat or ‘concerts’ that…
After the recent hype over child beauty pageants in the media, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon. I admit to enjoying (?) the odd episode of toddlers and tiara’s . It was fascinating and despite the fact it made me uncomfortable and occasionally disturbed – I…
The media have become the mainstream culture in children’s lives. Parents have become the alternative. Americans once expected parents to raise their children in accordance with the dominant cultural messages. Today they are expected to raise their children in opposition to it – Ellen Goodman…
When we choose to live ‘differently’ from the norm (or mainstream) we may encounter defensive and seemingly narrow-minded responses. It appears going against the flow challenges and confronts people’s beliefs about many things: including parenting. When my youngest son was born he cried 12 hours…
What does foster care have to do with the theme of this website? A lot actually! Choosing to be a foster carer has been one of the biggest decisions we have made as a family that has warranted criticism and judgement. In fact, I can…