Deep thoughts and philosophical arguments.
Today was an historic day – the first COVID19 vaccine in Australia, with phase one of the national roll out to begin tomorrow. And do you know what we did in our family to mark the occasion? We baked a cake. Two cakes, in fact, one representing COVID19 and the other the vaccine. Back in […]
2020 has been quite the year. And, like many of us, I felt the need to see it out the door and begin 2021 well. It was the right year to begin a new New Year’s tradition with the kids, and here is what I came up with: We each created three drawings: Everything about […]
“But that’s not fair!” It is a favourite phrase of children everywhere. But how should a parent respond? By righting the injustice? Or by explaining that life isn’t always fair? Well, firstly it is important to understand why your child is saying “but that’s not fair!” As in the function of the behaviour. […]
To me, one of the most wondrous aspects of parental love is the sheer unconditionality of it. We fall madly in love with our children before we even know, in any real sense, who our children are. Parental love is wide open, spacious and infinitely curious to discover. It can be tempting, oh so tempting, […]
As a psychologist, there is a lot of pop psychology advice that I really hate. One of the simplistic pieces of pop psychology advice that I loathe is the idea that you can easily add new activities to a busy life by simply getting up earlier. Want to meditate? Exercise more? Write a novel? Simple! […]
Mindfulness is the ability to stay psychologically present in the here and now of your life. It is a skill and, like any other skill, you can improve with practice. Just as the psychological sciences are starting to really flesh out the benefits of mindfulness, mindfulness has broken into popular culture and the mindfulness craze […]
If there’s one thing that’s guaranteed to make my blood boil it is hearing baby boomers make vague and sweeping claims about the use of technology by the current generation of parents. I’ve heard many horror stories over the years. I’ve even heard these horror stories from experienced health professionals at professional conferences. Horror stories […]
There are plenty of snake oil sellers out there and many of them prey on parents. At the same time, sometimes there is no clear evidence-based solution for the challenge that you are facing and you may find yourself weighing up other options. Asking the following questions can help you to figure out what is […]
There is a classic Star Trek episode (The Enemy Within) in which a transporter malfunction causes Captain Kirk to split into two- a good Kirk and a bad Kirk. With all the darker aspects of his nature distilled out into a separate being, the good Kirk is unable to function. He is weak-willed, indecisive, and […]
The relationship between a parent and child is a multifaceted thing, perhaps particularly in the modern world. You will play many roles in your child’s life – parent, teacher, coach, therapist and friend. Even stripped back to its essence the role of parent still contains multiple interweaving strands of nurturance, encouragement, and discipline. So, how […]