Reported look at why millennial mothers feel overwhelmed despite greater involvement from partners, and what might ease the load.
Women today are more educated, more employed and more engaged in childcare than generations before them. Is there any way out of the total overwhelm? Early one morning, feeling desperate, Katherine went on to her phone and asked ChatGPT how to make her life work. She plugged in her work hours, her husband’s work schedule, the days she had childcare for her three-year-old, the school hours – plus before- and after-school care times – for her six-year-old; the flexibility her job offered her, the…
Offers a simple sleepover codeword tactic so a child can signal they want to leave without embarrassment.
Sometimes a child needs to say ‘I’m having a horrible time!’ without everyone around them realising. Ukulele! The second you have a baby, people begin offering you unsolicited advice. Friends, acquaintances and – most fun of all – complete strangers you definitely didn’t ask will inform you that your child isn’t dressed warmly enough, or that you have to enjoy every moment. I once had the latter while my two-month-old was spraying me with liquids from both ends, which the wise sage had apparent…
A candid account of parental depletion on family holidays, shifting attention from children’s meltdowns to caregiver needs.
For 20 years I have made sure everyone gets where they need to be, with the least possible drama. Now suddenly I’m the one who needs looking after We’re just back from a family holiday to Japan and after two decades, I’ve developed clear ideas about who does what on these trips. Historically, my husband has been responsible for energetic fun, ensuring we get everywhere too early, asking strangers questions the rest of us are too shy to ask, and keeping hold of all passports. My responsibilities…
Readers’ letters on clearing a deceased parent’s possessions may help families facing grief and inherited belongings.
Readers respond to Polly Hudson’s article about disposing of her late mother’s possessions Reading Polly Hudson’s account of clearing her mother’s house ( My mum has died – and every decision I make about her belongings feels wrong, 20 September ) made me think about my experience of doing the same. I sort of enjoyed the task, viewing it as the last thing that I could do for my mother, and seeing myself as a curator in reverse. I was determined to recycle as much as possible, feeding the good t…
Four US surrogates describe their motivations and responses to the current controversy, adding firsthand perspective to a fraught family-building issue.
The Guardian spoke with surrogates across the US about what they think of the controversy surrounding the practice Surrogacy has been thrust into the national spotlight in recent weeks, with both the announcement of Lena Dunham using a surrogate to start a family and the ongoing legal battle surrounding McKenna West , a gestational surrogate who fled to Texas to avoid having an abortion that was requested by the child’s biological parents. With a renewed public interest on commercial, or compen…