Asking eight-year-olds the hard questions about climate change wasn’t really the plan for John Daniell and Noelle McCarthy when Auckland Zoo asked them to do a podcast. But it turns out that kids are readier to look at our environmental reality in the eye than most. Listen to Good Ancestors, a four-part podcast that examines … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Jenny Etherington who, along with her partner Thomas Mortimer, founded Solvej (sool-vay) Swings – makers of sustainable and long-lasting swings for babies and toddlers. ONE: How did Solvej Swings start and what was … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Jo McColl about Unity Books Auckland’s new offshoot just down the road: children’s bookshop little Unity. ONE: How did little Unity start and what was the inspiration behind it? I’ve been longing … Read more
What to offer trick or treaters to ensure you’re the most popular house in the neighbourhood, according to kids. Whatever your feelings about Halloween, you can’t deny it’s now a part of our children’s lives. So you have several options: 1) Throw yourselves into it with great gusto by decorating your house, dressing up and … Read more
Recently, the creator of Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street came out and said what we already all knew: Bert and Ernie are a lovable gay couple. But still some people deny it. Emily Writes – who watches a lot of Sesame Street – says those people are making her lose her mind. For reasons that will … Read more
Journalist Baz Macdonald was your quintessential hyperactive child. He looks back on the terror he caused, the productive ways his parents curbed his energy, and the effect it has had on his life. In public spaces, we have all experienced that one kid who is just mayhem: running up and down the aisles of stores, … Read more
We think we are protecting children from failure because we don’t want them to get upset, but in effect we’re harming their ability to cope when things don’t go to plan, argues Derek Wright, interim executive director of the Waikato District Health Board After making some comments around the impact of modern life on young … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Abhi Kala of Titan Ideas who’s reimagining cross-cultural storytelling through augmented (AR), virtual (VR), and mixed reality (MR) technology. ONE: How did Titan Ideas start and what was the inspiration behind it? I … Read more
In part two of The Spinoff’s great recall list, we look at various items targeted towards parents and children, such as toys, strollers, cots, carriers, rattles, bottles, and kids pyjamas. Below is a selection of recalled items we think are most relevant to consumers (part one looked at a selection of common household items). Of … Read more
When your audience is children, and their attention spans are shorter than their tempers, how do you keep them entertained at a theatre show? Thomas LaHood talks about his approach. The thing about making live performance for kids is that kids as an audience are just not polite. If they are bored with the show … Read more
A theatre show written by parents and for parents is welcoming mums to see the show with their babies. It might be a first in New Zealand. Producer Rachel Millar outlines why they’ve made the decision to be accessible. After children and babies in cafes and children on planes, babies in the theatre is the … Read more
Every parent has probably felt the disapproving eyes of others at some point when out with their offspring. Linda Jane Keegan challenges that feeling that kids just aren’t welcome anywhere. “It’s not working,” she said. And I thought, no, it’s not working. This workshop, organised to find out how to engage people like me, hasn’t … Read more
Today is Pink Shirt Day, an international initiative aimed at ending bullying. Here, Kiri Speirs shares her daughter Zoe’s story. It still haunts me to know that being bullied was a feature of the last few months of my daughter’s life, that in the beginning it wasn’t handled very well and that I failed her … Read more
When should you start you children’s KiwiSaver? Simplicity’s Amanda Morrall says it depends on how much you can contribute. When someone offers you $1,000 for free, you’d be an idiot to say no. Kiwis aren’t dumb and this sweet incentive was key to KiwiSaver’s early success. The additional $1,000 a year in matching funds from the … Read more
Ever wondered if you can go tramping with little ones? The answer is yes! Meg Drive shares one of her tramping adventures and gives tips on where to start if you want to take your family on a tramping trip. The Waihohonu Hut is a great example of false advertising. It was billed as a … Read more
Book an Uber, an Airbnb and a stranger to look after your child? Maria Slade looks into the potentially risky business of online parenting services. Coverage of Balmoral mum Jane Haagh’s new childcare venture, Sitterzen, sent Facebook into a frenzy this week. Dubbed the ‘Uber of babysitting’, the aspect of her web-based service which most … Read more
It sure is hard out there when you want to market your cafe or restaurant as family friendly but you’re not actually family friendly at all. Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes has had it with the tired moral outrage over kids with the temerity to be out in public. Another week, another story about a … Read more
Leaving the house when you have kids can be a nightmare of epic proportions. Anna Gowan has your back. Here’s her top six tips to get you to church (or the pub) on time. Forget waking up at the crack of dawn or making lunches the night before, these largely untested and questionable ideas will … Read more
New Zealand’s record on child abuse and neglect is a scar on our conscience. A new agency seeks to change that. Expert Emily Keddell explains what it’s intended to, the pitfalls it could face, and that controversial ‘vulnerable children’ label. On Saturday the government launched the Ministry for Vulnerable Children (Oranga Tamariki), replacing Child, Youth … Read more
Author Chaz Harris on growing up without positive gay role models in a homophobic world – and how he’s created Promised Land, a fairytale so that our children don’t go through the same. I was at the last Out in the Park with my golden tutu-d and pink gumbooted little boy. We had marched in the parade as … Read more
Emily Writes sits down with a dentist to drill him about kids and teeth and all the stuff parents need to know about dental health. Open wide, this shouldn’t hurt a bit… This is the first in a series of posts in which I’ll be asking health professionals questions about child health, crowd-sourced from you. … Read more
Earthquakes are unpredictable and uncontrollable events, which makes them scary – for everyone, but particularly children. These five tools can help your child cope with the aftermath of a major earthquake. 1. Focus on information and reassurance Giving age-appropriate information about how earthquakes happen can help them to understand. Be matter-of-fact and encourage questions. Talk … Read more
It gives The Spinoff much pleasure to welcome Dear Mamas to our suite of podcasts. Dear Mamas is a “no bullshit, no judgement” look at being a parent, hosted by Holly Walker and Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes. This is Dear Mamas, The Spinoff’s straight-talking parenting podcast with Holly Walker and Emily Writes, brought to … Read more
Hang on, the poster in the gym that claims ‘first you feel like dying then you feel reborn’ isn’t about getting your child to sleep? That’s news to Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes. Saturdays begin with gymnastics class. One of the perks of my baby turning four (what the hell? He was just born) is … Read more
Music critic Simon Sweetman is famous for his often brutal reviews, and those on the receiving end usually take it on the chin. But not Robbie Williams. A year on, Sweetman looks back at his brief scrap with the pop star – and asks: since when are kids fair game? When Simon Sweetman came on … Read more
A Wellington school’s use of a ‘seclusion room’ to isolate autistic children has been dismissed by officials as a sorry aberration. But the school cell speaks to a much bigger problem with special education in New Zealand, says Giovanni Tiso, the father of two children with autism. There are few things more distressing and painful … Read more
What is it about being childless by choice that seems to invite everyone you know – and a few you don’t – to weigh in? Elizabeth Heritage, for one, has had enough. Earlier this year I wrote about being happily childfree by choice and it hit a nerve. One of the things I learned from … Read more
Over the next couple of weeks we’re introducing you to contributors to our parenting blog, The Spinoff Parents. Today Stacy Kemeys (BSc PGDipDiet) explains why being an expert in nutrition trumps being an expert in eating. Kids eating (or not eating as it were) is a touchy subject. Everyone seems to have opinions on picky … Read more
Many parents make the reasonable decision to terminate their pregnancy following an in utero diagnosis of Down Syndrome. But as more sophisticated tests make it easier and less risky to diagnose early, Tessa Prebble wonders whether we’ve really thought through the consequences. When I found out I was pregnant, my GP immediately handed me a … Read more