Returning to paid work after any amount of time at home looking after our younguns can be a huge adjustment. Wendy Black outlines her big fears and what she’s excited about on the eve of her return to work. Two days ago I was a stay-at-home-mum spending my days mumming to my two year old … Read more
In the wake of the devastating attack on children in Manchester, many of our little ones will be asking questions that we will struggle to answer. Counsellor, school teacher and mum of three Louisa Woods has some advice on talking to your children about terrorism. Anyone who’s ever had more than a passing interaction with … Read more
Nichole Brown writes to her precious tamāhine about their taonga tuku iho and the journey she has made back to her tūpuna. To my sweet little girl, I am so sorry for white-washing your world. I am so sorry for not giving you a name that reflects who we are. I love your name – it … Read more
Yesterday the Green Party announced a major policy platform aimed at parents and children in New Zealand. In her own words, Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei explains the Budget for All Mothers. All Kiwi kids deserve the best great start in life, right? And what better country to raise kids: we are blessed with a … Read more
How do we teach our children that their body is their body when there are times we just need them to comply with us so that we can keep their body safe? Laura Borrowdale finds there’s no easy answer – but it’s a discussion we need to have. One of my mother’s key pieces of … Read more
Like a lot of mothers, Juliet Speedy was often told that the baby years would be the best years of her life. She’s not convinced. There’s this spot at our small, local mall that I used to frequent. It was a bench seat opposite the supermarket and outside that supermarket is a climb-on Bob the Builder toy. … Read more
Mother’s Day is a time for sleep-ins and massages and home-made cards for a lot of parents. But for one group of parents it’s an especially painful time. Tessa Prebble writes about being a mother on Mother’s Day when your child has died. When I was pregnant with my daughter a friend lent me their … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes has noticed a lot of parents online are really upset, often with each other. Here she shares some ideas to make the village a little less hostile and a little more kind. For the last two years (at least) I’ve been pretty fully immersed in the world of parents talking … Read more
It’s harder to be a teenager today than ever before. So how can you as a parent help? By continuing to show up and support your teen, even when they seem hellbent on pushing you away, says Louisa Woods. It’s the most common reaction I get when I tell someone I work with teenagers: ‘I … Read more
Jessica Hammond Doube’s daughters are at risk at every playdate, every time they go to a restaurant or cafe, and at school every day. And at Easter, the risks posed by their severe food allergies are even more pronounced. Here Jessica writes about how allergies affect her family’s life, and what she wishes other parents … Read more
Prompted by his son’s recent fourth birthday, Gareth Shute look backs and decides which of the preceding “terrible” years did the most to fray his nerves. Before I was a parent, the phrases “terrible twos” and “terrible threes” were meaningless to me. I figured it was a slip of the tongue when people alternated between … Read more
How can just a one hour change cause so much havoc in the lives of so many parents? Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes rants against daylight saving and gives tips on surviving this terrible, terrible time. Days are usually 24 hours right? Like commonly. Like most of the time. Except after daylight saving. The days … Read more
Angela Cuming has three children under three – all boys. Here she talks about the joys and challenges of her family life. My name is Angela, I have three boys under three and I haven’t slept in three-and-half years. There’s Charlie, he came first and when he was 20 months old we welcomed identical twins Tommy … Read more
What happens when your baby is born and you don’t feel anything? Nadine Millar shares her story of waiting for the feelings to come. I was 24 when I had my first baby. I’d just started Uni and it seemed like a good use of time. I wrote assignments while he slept, substituted text books for … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes shares the fibs she tells at coffee groups to make her seem like a better parent than she really is. Being a parent is hard. Sometimes we lie to make it feel like it’s easier. It’s not a mean-spirited lie. It’s a fib to help us cope. There are no performance … Read more
Mum Michelle Coursey knows you have to look on the bright side when you’re getting no sleep. She shares the benefits she’s found from getting a solid two hours a night. So, you’re about to become a parent and all people seem to say to you these days is ‘get that sleep while you still … Read more
Dunedin dad Aaron Hawkins went to the cricket and all he got was his pram banned. Here he questions the decision of New Zealand Cricket to exclude families from watching his beloved game. As a long suffering test cricket tragic it’s my job to pass that obsession on to my one-year-old son, so off we … Read more
When Simon Sweetman took his son Oscar to the B4 School Check, it did not go well – and what’s worse, it seemed like Oscar was failing the tests on purpose. A typical toddler tantrum, or something else? I’m not a religious man. If you want to put your faith in, well, faith – good … Read more
Because it doesn’t get said enough, Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw has a message of thanks for all the overworked and underappreciated women of the world. Here at The Spinoff Parents our kaupapa is to love, uplift, care for, and support all parents – but especially mothers, would-be mothers, and all the women who support mothers. Our … Read more
A 19th century figure who drew artistic inspiration from lengthy walks through the city, the flâneur spent his days unencumbered by schedules or responsibilities or, god forbid, young children. But these days, writes Thomasin Sleigh, the city streets are the realm of the pram-pushers. My baby is a pram-happy baby. Especially when he was very … Read more
With two young children the nights can be long, so very, very long. Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes writes about one marathon night among many. The night shift started with an attempt to write something and ignore the pitter patter of feet on the stairs. I knew they belonged to my four-year-old. He knew he … Read more
When it comes to sleep, identical twin babies might just hold the key to understanding what’s nature and what’s nurture – if twins have the same DNA and a mum who treats them the same, then surely it’s obvious: they’ll be two non-sleepers or two sleepers. If only it were that simple, says twin mum … Read more
What is it like when your children leave the nest? Amanda May writes about what she had hoped for and what it feels like now that her home is quiet. In the maelstrom of life, where the to-do-list is ever nagging, I have had moments of yearning for time out, space away from the responsibilities … Read more
Over the course of her two pregnancies Anna Gowan has received some pretty ridiculous – and unsolicited – advice from dudes. She shares some of the worst and asks: why exactly do men feel the need to weigh in? I’ve been given invaluable advice from men recently. What’s the best garden box to grow vegetables … Read more
The hilarious Thom Adams is back with tales of parenting from the animal world that are heart warming and terrifying. Definitely the only parenting post you will read today that includes the line “those fucking penguins”. In my last article I suggested that it was unhealthy to compare ourselves to good animal parents. I thought it … Read more
Just like adults, kids have the right to voice their anger, fears and hopes for the future. Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes explains why her children accompany her to protest marches and hikoi. As it is after most news-making protests, in the last couple of days I’ve seen the usual online arguments about whether children should … Read more
Many parents struggle to work out how to talk to their children about their bodies. They want them to have confidence in how they look, but also make it clear that the way their appearance is far from the most important thing about them. Trudy Kessels writes about her hopes for her daughter’s experience with … Read more
Pete Douglas tries to stage an intervention for poor old Daddy Pig, the bumbling patriarch of the ever popular kids show Peppa Pig. Before we had our first son four years ago I was blissfully unaware of the existence of Peppa Pig, much less the intricacies of the show’s plot and character development. This seems … Read more
How is it that the days feel so long, but the years so short? Thomasin Sleigh writes about the parenting journey – the minutes, weeks, years and the “non-time”. Minutes A pregnancy test. Wait. You have to wait two minutes before you look at the slender lines. Lines which signify a new human being. Inside … Read more