If you are unfamiliar with the wisdom of the Hands Free Mama I encourage you to head on over and prepare to be challenged and inspired to see life in a whole new way – a distraction free way. Her words of hope and encouragement have been…
A post written by a concerned mother of teenage boys about girls posting inappropriate, sexual images of girls on facebook has gone viral – FYI (If you’re a teenage girl). It has sparked great controversy in the online world! Many seemed to agree that the virtue…
In December I released my first eBook – Consumer-Less Kids. It is a how-to 90 page gift guide for buying (or not buying) for the kids who have everything. The book contains insightful information on how consumerism impacts our children as well as offering thoughtful, eco-friendly,…
It’s nice to know that I’m not the only parent horrified by the McDonald’s play sets available for kids in Toys ‘r’ us stores throughout Australia. In fact, I initially thought I was seeing things. Really? Parents actually buy these for their children? What parent…
It seems a little hypocritical to talk about screen addiction as I sit here writing on a screen for you to read, on a screen. Awkward. But perhaps this is something we all need to hear, including me, or perhaps even especially me! As I…
With Christmas approaching, it seems timely to begin a 4 part series on toys to avoid and offer some helpful alternatives. Toy shopping can be overwhelming. We are exposed to all sorts of advertising and marketing that convinces us we need to ‘spoil’ our children. Let’s…
Part 1 was all about avoiding sexualised dolls this christmas. Today this is about avoiding toys that restrict our children’s play through negative gender stereotypes. As the mother of 3 boys I know that each of my boys is different. One might lovingly play with a…
As many of you know, I have experienced many behavioral challenges with my children over the years. I shared some of my journey when I wrote about the difficulties involved with raising a spirited child. The term ‘spirited’ is really, a nicer way of saying strong-willed.…
Of course this is a parody. But as with all parody’s there’s truth in there somewhere. Although Barbie was one (if not the) first sexualised doll she’s looking pretty tame compared to more recent creations by toy manufacturers. Toy manufacturers will continue to push the…
I recently heard the argument that if you don’t want your kids to be fat (obese) then just don’t buy them junk food. It seems that everyone is quick to hold parents solely responsible for the childhood obesity epidemic in Australia and overseas. There is…