Insight
Insight: Page 2
Insight
Personal Essay: Pushing Back
"I'm going to have a VBAC," Annie said, "if it's the last thing I do." We were sitting in a antenatal yoga class and for at least half of each of these classes, we'd talk about where we planned to give birth, with whom, and how the endeavour was going — lots of chatter about lower backs and digestive systems. Annie, like almost every othe...
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Better Late…
Even though I know the Australian dream is bullshit, as a woman who has worked for the past twenty years in the entertainment industry, I have developed a really intense work ethic. Somehow working twice as hard as the men around me while taking ten times more crap led me to think that in all situations, if I just keep pushing, it'll all work out....
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7 Tips for Equally Shared Parenting
So much of the imagery surrounding modern parenthood is negative: endless drudgery, chaos, stress, clueless dads and harpy mums. Our childless friends ask us in wide-eyed horror if it's really as bad as "they" say, and if so, why on earth would anyone have a child? There is a better way, and Marc and Amy Vachon think they have found it....
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Move Over, Mummy
Everybody's a critic, my fifteen-month-old included. Even with a vocabulary that's mainly a jumble of verbal approximations, she can make her preferences very clear. I can hand her a sippy cup of water and she'll request "muh" (milk) instead, or "wawa" if I've given her milk. I could give her a slice of apple and she'd ask for cheese. I'm happy to...
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The Babble Do-It-Myself Guide
"I can do it myself!" Surely, a battle cry for the ages? well, ages 2-18. In the spirit of the DIY revolution, we've put together our own home schooling guide, Babble style. Here are 25+ tips and how-to's for teaching kids lots of useful and, frankly, not-so-useful-but-really-fun new skills, from floating in the pool to curing an ice-cream heada...
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Absentee Grandparents
I cannot believe I am having this conversation again. It's my mother, calling to say that she will be postponing her visit to see her grandson for the fourth time. "I very much wanted to come but I have to go to a conference in Heidelberg," she said in her accented English. "I won't have any money afterwards so I'll plan to come in a few months...
Insight
Careful What You Wish For
I have long been convinced my husband was the superior parent. His patience is more extensive, his stamina — for "one more" reading of Olivia or "two more minutes" in the bath or fifteen bedtime stories — far superior to my "one and done" attitude towards almost everything regarding parenting — one story, one hug, one kiss. This attitud...
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Iran’s Children
As news of Iran's election uprising swept the world last week, I spent hours furiously dialing the phone, trying to get through to my friends and relatives in Tehran. The internet and the evening news provided minute-by-minute accounts of the unfolding protests and violent crackdown, but I had no sense of whether my loved ones' daily lives were al...
Insight
