Winter wary
Winter can be a dangerous time for youngsters and I’m not talking Covid-19. I’m talking about home-heating, which presents all kinds of risks, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
parenting
Moving the freedom boundaries
Moving the freedom boundaries
Parenting columnist Ian Munro shares some thoughts on preparing children for high school.
Dealing with the sports-shy
Dealing with the sports-shy
Many youngsters are lapping up the return to freedom and, in particular, the return of sport. But there’ll be some who won’t seem the slightest bit interested, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Right calls
Right calls
Last week, I came across a great idea for introducing the decision-making process. A teacher friend has been taking his Year 9 class through the process using our Government’s response to the...
Grandparents’ love constant
Grandparents’ love constant
One of the side effects of our lockdown, here and across the world, has been the enforced separation of grandparents and grandchildren in an effort to keep grandparents safe, writes Ian Munro.
Tidiness can start young
Tidiness can start young
Level 2 did mean that in our household we had to clean up our act, so to speak, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Competition part of life
Competition part of life
For the last couple of months, we’ve been exhorted to be kind to one another and, as a nation, I think we’ve managed that pretty well, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Magic words
Magic words
As we probably often tell our children, it doesn't cost anything to be polite, writes Ian Munro.
Strange time for babies
Strange time for babies
There’s one group of people who haven’t taken any notice of the lockdown — those little ones scheduled to be born during April and May.
Lockdown connection
Lockdown connection
One of the heart-warming aspects of the lockdown has been the stream of comments, videos and social media posts showing fathers connecting with their offspring, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Don’t let OE fade away
Don’t let OE fade away
In this current climate it’s very easy to feel that the big, wide world will be just too unsafe. But we need to keep the OE tradition alive, writes Ian Munro.
From teen to adult
From teen to adult
One of the key tasks of a teenager is to develop, and eventually take on, their adult identity, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Doing your best is your best bet
Doing your best is your best bet
It is strange times when you can say both that "nothing much is happening" and that "events are moving at a fast pace" with equal validity, says parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Crisis shines a light on what’s important
Crisis shines a light on what’s important
There’s one thing about a crisis — it helps get things back into perspective and gets you thinking about what’s important in life, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Making it work best with routine
Making it work best with routine
It’s strange times, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Helping them understand
Helping them understand
Messages we give children need to be factual and have a positive focus around family management of the Covid-19 pandemic, writes Ian Munro.
Facing the music
Facing the music
Last week, police arrested a 19-year-old for, at the time of writing, failing to assist with a search warrant, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Figures of concern
Figures of concern
More boys than ever before are going through body image "crises". The Children’s Society (UK) reports that more and more boys are unhappy with how they look, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Eat well and set example
Eat well and set example
Any suggestion of an eating disorder should be taken seriously. If your teenager unexpectedly starts to diet, for example, you need to monitor what is happening, writes parenting columnist Ian Munro.
Unhealthy appetites
Unhealthy appetites
Any suggestion of an eating disorder in a teenager should be taken seriously, says parenting columnist Ian Munro.