Best Parenting Articles

From seeing him on stage to locking eyes at a lounge room disco, comedian Tom Ballard only had eyes for Harley, a handsome circus acrobatI met Harley at the Adelaide Fringe festival in 2020. We were sharing a venue in the Garden of Unearthly Delights; I was doing my standup show, he was performing in a group circus show. I was all set to move to the UK later that year to become a West End star (or something), so I wasn’t looking for a relationship.One night I sat in on the circus show and, when

Yes, we stay awake all night, worrying about things that everyone else has already forgotten. But at least we’re making an effortIt takes a certain kind of bravery to speak out on behalf of a much-maligned group, so thank you, Mark Travers, PhD. This American psychologist has publicly detailed three reasons overthinkers make great partners. Finally, some justice for those of us whose brains don’t have an off switch, when we usually get such a bad rap (which we then lie awake at night endlessly r

Take your time. Often we need to find out who we are before we can know what, and who, we really wantI’m 18 and have been at university for a few months. Being here has made me realise certain things about myself, including my struggle to desire a relationship. I’ve never been in one and don’t believe I’ve ever been physically or sexually attracted to anyone. I know I am still young, but I’m worried this will never change. Since going to uni, I’ve been around friends and others experiencing inti

Sandra and Roy are adapting to sex as new parents, from postpartum pain to acting fast when they have a private moment• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymouslySex was a reminder that I’m still me. That this identity still exists, which is really important because you do lose it a bit, especially in the early weeks of becoming a mother Continue reading...

Emigrating to be with your partner sounds wildly romantic, but what happens when the person is right and the place very much isn’t?I met my wife in Queensland in 2001. She’s from Bern, but was in Australia to study marine science. She needed help collecting fish for her project, and had heard that I was handy with a spear gun. We hit it off straight away, and began our romance on semi‑deserted islands near the Great Barrier Reef.We went on to make a life together. My wife liked Australia and eve

The singers and sisters on growing up in west London, finding fame in the 90s and relaunching their music as a duoBorn in Canada, Natalie and Nicole Appleton are singers best known as members of the group All Saints. Raised between Ontario, London and New York, the sisters joined the band in 1996 alongside Shaznay Lewis and Melanie Blatt. After the success of their self-titled 1997 debut and a string of hits including the chart-topping singles Never Ever and Pure Shores, All Saints split in 2001

Rich or poor, male or female, it’s always a struggle to balance work and family. We’re all wondering about the paths we didn’t take‘I do feel I’ve wasted my life, really, living in a world of fictional characters,” said Ian Rankin – multi-award-winning author (more than 35m copies of his Rebus novels sold), knighthood for services to literature and charity, a man who achieves more in one year than I have in 51 – on a recent podcast. If you’ve wasted your life, Sir Ian, what about the rest of us?

Devotees who paid $450 for a fun-filled “experience” in Florida last weekend were met with a concrete-floored warehouse and a $1 Barbie-branded hand sanitiser. Could this top the notorious Willy Wonka Experience?Name: Barbie Dream Fest.Age: Barbie has been around since 1959, so technically of pensionable age, even if she doesn’t look it. Barbie Dream Fest took place last weekend, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Continue reading...

Survey also found 65% of gen Z think ‘things are better if men do paid work and women do care work’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastYounger fathers are more likely to cling to outdated ideas that frame men as the money earners and women as caregivers, new research has found.The Australian State of the World’s Fathers report is based on a global survey of 8,000 parents, with 533 from Australia. Continue reading...

Increased openness is a change for the better. But cuts have made the courts’ work far harderOpening up family courts in England and Wales to journalists was never intended to solve all their problems. This is a public service that, like so many others, is chronically overloaded and underfunded. While the number of children in council care fell slightly last year, the figure of 81,770 in England was still 16% higher than a decade ago. Recent increases in legal aid fees applied only to immigratio