Would you go to a cafe, buy a coffee, and then sit in the toilets to drink it? I’m presuming in most cases the answer would be ‘no’! So WHY is it acceptable for some business owners to ask a nursing mum to feed their hungry baby in the toilets? The logic baffles me. I […]

I’ve got a bee in my bonnet over all this talk about packed lunches being unhealthy. I really resent the Government stepping into a situation which in our household works very well, and really doesn’t need any investigating or tampering with. In case you’ve missed it, head teachers in England are being urged to ban […]

Today the government announced plans for a shakeup of the parental leave system in England, Scotland and Wales, which will give new mums the chance to share their maternity leave with their partner. Under the new system, which will come into effect in 2015, mothers will be able to return to work two weeks after […]

I have been working for myself from home since 2006, and so when I fell pregnant with Little I in late 2008, my hope was that I would be able to return to work fairly quickly. As I’m sure all first-time Mums do, I’d imagined I’d have an idyllic baby who would nap for hours […]

I didn’t expect to be writing anything about the Jubilee celebrations this weekend. I’ve never been much of a royalist, and prior to this weekend I was a bit of a Jubilee cynic. As the masses of Union Jack bunting (and even cardboard cut-outs of the Queen) draped the streets and houses around us , […]

Within a recent US survey of 250 working mums, which looked at the challenges of balancing a career and a family, 55 per cent admitted that “the struggle to excel at both is overwhelming.” I am easily a part of this statistic. I have had so many highs and lows since returning to work after […]

Fifty-seven per cent of teachers believe pupils’ behaviour has deteriorated over the last five years, according to a recent survey published by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). At its annual conference this week, members of the ATL voted unanimously for research into ‘effective’ disciplinary methods, and discussed the need for greater sanctions. As […]

Babies who are fed on demand do better at school than those who are fed on schedule, according to new research published this week. Surprisingly, the findings are consistent across both breastfed and formula-fed babies. This is the first large-scale study that has been carried out to investigate the long-term outcomes of schedule versus demand-fed […]

“Mummy, I’ve been waiting for ages and ages. It’s SO BORING!” In our household, the cheeky Peppa Pig has recently had a lot to answer for. Without any exaggeration, I’d attribute 75 per cent of Little I’s post-Christmas cheekiness and general answering back to our friend Peppa Pig. Don’t get me wrong, I think Peppa […]

Yesterday, US midwife Ina May Gaskin collected her prestigious 2011 Right Livelihood Award – widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’. She was one of four winners, who celebrated their success at a ceremony in the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm. The Right Livelihood Award jury recognised Gaskin “for her whole-life’s work teaching and advocating safe, […]