Get a quick fix of your former wriggling, rhyming, library-going life in this extract from Susan Edmunds’ debut novel. Editor’s note: Mummy Needs a Break is perfect low-key lockdown fodder. From the blurb: “With a devilish toddler and baby number two on the way, Rachel’s big dream is to one day go to the toilet … Read more
In this extract from a chapter called ‘Deep Time’ in Rebecca Priestley’s new memoir, Fifteen Million Years in Antarctica, Rebecca remembers her peculiar, legume-heavy, art-saturated childhood in Wellington. (And a note from the author: if anyone has a painting from Ruth Priestley’s Antarctic Dream series, Rebecca would love to hear from you.) I grew up in … Read more
Solo parenting isn’t having a week looking after the kids on your own. Mum of three Julie Fairey explains why the comments about solo parenting don’t respect the real mahi of parents without that back-up – financial, social or otherwise – and why they don’t address the stigmas or inequality around sole parenting. It happened … Read more
A mother writes of her journey of love and loss in this beautiful personal essay about trying to raise children around addiction. His mother craned up and down the shoreline plucking shells and rocks from the sand. An island of clouds loomed overhead as she made her way to where he sat on the grassy … Read more
Charlotte Fielding talks to a mum whose partner left when she was pregnant after a six-year struggle to conceive. It’s a story of daring to hope, of struggle and resilience, and of how we can make it through the most unexpected and gut-wrenching events. The door is propped open and Anna* is breastfeeding her four-month-old … Read more
Rent Week 2018: Pushed to desperate measures by the high costs of renting with a small child, single parent Nichole Brown made a dramatic decision to reduce her housing costs. The hidden cost of single parenting goes beyond simply clothing and feeding children. Becoming a single parent had a huge impact on the cost of … Read more
Rent Week 2018: Two tales from a small Tauranga community illustrate the challenges solo mums still face in the renting market. It was reported in January that Tauranga now outranks Auckland as New Zealand’s most unaffordable city and in the city’s pressured rental market, landlords these days have their pick of tenants and of rental … Read more
When James Shaw thanked ‘Pirimia Jacinda Ardern, or baby mama’ many of us swooned at its cuteness, while others silently cringed. Asks Lana Lopesi, how much do we really know about the term ‘baby mama’? “Yeah this one right here goes out to all the baby’s mamas, mama’s mamas, mamas, baby mama’s mamas.” – Outkast … Read more
Finding a rental in Wellington isn’t only a battle for students and young professionals. Here, single mothers tell their accommodation search stories, and public policy researcher Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw explains why housing insecurity is so damaging for families. Jane It is tough when you are a sole parent. I didn’t renew the lease on my small … Read more