‘You’re so young! I thought you were the nanny!’

I found out I was pregnant at 17 years old, in hospital with a kidney infection. This was not what I had planned for my life. I remember thinking of teen mums as losers who couldn’t be responsible enough to use a condom. Then I became that loser who hadn’t been responsible enough to use […]
With 3 clicks you can help fund vital PND support

Did you know that Australia only has ONE specialist, national perinatal depression helpline? And did you know that due to funding shortfalls this helpline – run by PANDA (the Post and Antenatal Depression Association) – can only help 7 per cent of the mums who need it? You might also be interested to know that […]
Working it out: Stay at home or return to work?

Figuring out if and when you should go back to work after you’ve had a child is a very personal and family-based decision. Can you afford not to work? Who will look after your baby? What impact will it have on your career? Is your child too young? What support networks are available to you? […]
Will your relationship survive your kids?

The pressures of parenthood can put an enormous strain on your relationship. Time and money pressures, expectations of continued independence and lifestyle, living at a distance from traditional communal support networks, trying to juggle career, family and partner. These are some of the most pervasive causes of stress in relationships between parents. And to make […]
What happens when you don’t like being a parent?
Parents come in many shapes and sizes. There are those for which being a parent is the most natural thing in the world. Always knowing they would have a family, they live, sleep and breathe parenting; thriving on the milestones, the naughty steps and the healthy lunchboxes. Others land unsure, but once their brood appear […]
12 ways Valentine’s Day is different after children
I’m convinced all children have a 6th sense! A sense which allows them to detect even the slightest level of intimacy brewing between their parents. After much observation (especially recently on Valentine’s Day), I can conclude that if children are within a 10 metre radius of their parents’ displays of affection an internal signal goes […]
Parents! You can’t be happy all the time and that’s OK!

You must feel sad. Human emotion is not capable of being monochromatic; one must accept the full spectrum of brain chemical combos. You cannot feel happy without allowing yourself to feel sadness as well. Something I found terrifying about motherhood was the unexpected anxiety and despair. Everyone promised the oxytocin highs, the love, the desire […]
Top 7 electric breast pumps

I had an electric breast pump … for one day. In a sleep-deprived haze I failed to read the first instruction – DO NOT IMMERSE IN WATER – and I did just that after the first use. So it was “goodbye hundreds of dollars” and “hello manual breast pump” (thankfully it could be used as […]
Top 4 manual breast pumps

I accidentally used a manual breast pump … wait a minute … that sounds like I fell over and landed on one while not wearing a shirt – which is dumb. Although not quite as dumb as what I ACTUALLY did. I bought an electric pump for more than $200 and after using the very first time […]
To my gorgeous yummy-mummy gal pals …
Alone but not really at all… I had a burning desire to write to my local friends with young children the other day. This is what poured from my heart and the responses back have been overwhelmingly positive, with most of them saying they, too, feel lonely and isolated but also inspired by each other. […]