Parenting
French parents do it better
I arrived in Paris as an au pair in 2022. I was in my early twenties and armed only with…
Phone-addicted yummy mummies are neglecting their children
As a foster carer and an adopter, I know what neglect looks like. I’ve looked after children who didn’t know…
Middle-class parents are creating a new breed of brat
I recently reconnected with an old friend; I went to his house and met his children for the first time.…
Heaven is a Trad Dad
M y husband earns more than me. A lot more. I am, of course, extremely fortunate to be in such…
The child-free influencers waging war on motherhood
At around five weeks into my pregnancy my phone found out about it, and from that point on I was…
Don’t ambush parents with activism
As we sat down at the Royal Opera House to watch one of the Royal Ballet’s soloists perform Letter to Tchaikovsky,…
Childcare is mothercare
When I was a small child, my mother left me in the charge of an elderly neighbour so that she…
Stella Creasy is wrong about the ‘motherhood penalty’
If you find yourself frazzled by the Christmas rush, spare a thought for Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow, who is…
The dangerous cult of ‘toxic parents’
Complaining about ‘toxic parents’ has been a viral hit on TikTok with videos on the topic racking up several billion…
Parents must resist Stonewall’s gospel
I think by now it’s becoming horribly apparent to parents of every political persuasion that we can’t sit out the…
My three straight weeks of saintliness
I’m currently standing at the top of Brownie Point Mountain, having spent the past two weeks looking after our three…
Baby bust
Chinese women can’t afford a large family
Parent trap
Welcome to the cripplingly expensive world of childcare, Boris
As time goes by
There were many moments in Early Morning Riser that made me laugh out loud in recognition. An episode where the…
Following the herd
The ethics of Covid jabs for children
The conservative appeal of drug gangs
According to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, the easing of lock-down will be accompanied by a rise in crime…
Father figures of fun
The politics and posturing of ‘middle-class dads’
A shed of one’s own
I’ve moved out of my home. No, Caroline and I haven’t broken up. It’s just that we’re having the house…
Children of the revolution
Some steal their luxury leisure goods, but others take their leisure by the luxury of right, and all of it…
Lullabies and lockdown
I laughed when my Spanish midwife mentioned in passing that in Latin American countries they have a custom for new…
The world of make-believe is stranger than we realise
Last summer, in the bc era, I took my then three-year-old to a new group play session: ‘Lottie’s Magic Box.’…
Open book
If you want children to love reading, don’t tell them what to read
In defence of pocket money
Our grandchildren are penniless. They have pretty much everything their hearts desire and they have parents with wallets full of…
It’s possible to talk to children about politics without leading them in one direction
My six-year-old son announced, from the back of the car, that he was backing Boris Johnson. My wife, who’s voting…
