After nearly a quarter of a century of sage advice on the sometimes fraught business of parenting Ian Munro, the wise old owl of The Weekend Mix is retiring his byline, with a few final thoughts.
There’s one aspect of Christmas that saddens me each year. The memory of the death of the son of a very dear friend, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
As parents it’s essential that we give our youngsters time and space to develop that creative imagination free from our "inside the box" thinking, writes Ian Munro.
Sons, and daughters, see and absorb how their father treats their mother and how they talk about women in general, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Some of the most satisfying sounds are, reputedly, a fire crackling, rain on the roof, waves breaking and children’s laughter, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
If we shelter children completely from life’s disappointments or fight all their battles for them, we’ll be doing them a great disservice, writes Ian Munro.
Kids who fuss over food can be a right pain and often turn into food-faddy teenagers who would have the family cook prepare several different meals of an evening. It’s a problem best not tackled head-on, writes Ian Munro.
Given the Delta outbreak, there’s only one thing we can responsibly do to protect our youngsters and others unable to be vaccinated - vaccinate ourselves, then our youngsters when eligible, writes Ian Munro.
Some parents find it hard to let their children learn from consequences but it’s the only way we learn that everything we do does have a consequence of some sort, writes Ian Munro.
A gift to a child should always be made without strings attached, in other words to show our love, appreciation or because it’s a gift-giving occasion, writes Ian Munro.
Unconditional love allows children to flourish, feel good about themselves, feel that they are worthwhile people and, when times are tough, to keep going, writes Ian Munro.