Equality as identical privilege: a parenting utopia? On Monday I began discussing Asher’s ideas in her book ‘Shattered: Modern Motherhood and the Illusion of Equality.’ She proposed creating a world of genuinely shared parenting, in which mother and father take significant parental leave – mostly independently – then both return to flexible paid work while […]
Why are women still left holding the baby? Today girls often outperform boys in education and grow up to become women who have successful, absorbing and well-paid careers. They may even earn more than their partners, with whom they typically have equal and rewarding relationships. And then many women have children, and find themselves back […]
It would be easy to dismiss this book as largely fearmongering, given the attention-seeking title. However, it’s much better than that. What’s it about? A few years ago, Sue Palmer, literacy expert, stepped aside from her day-to-day professional activities and began to examine a range of cultural factors that were having a growing impact on […]
I was pleased to receive this during my pregnancy as, at a mere 144 pages, it made the whole idea of having a child seem a lot more manageable. I’ve seen longer instruction manuals for putting furniture together. What’s it about? The basics of babycare. Jay starts from a position of absolute ignorance, similar to […]
Although watching my son explore our local SureStart Centre can be fun, there is definitely a finite amount of time I can bear to spend watching him play with cars. Recently, that time having long since expired, I found myself browsing the centre’s bookshelves and spotted Sally Goddard Blythe’s ‘What Babies and Children Rally Need’. […]
After spending a day at home with my eleven month old son, it’s very easy to look around me and wonder what I’ve achieved. So I’ve tidied away the toys that made the living room look like a branch of the Early Learning Centre, cleaned on, around and under the high chair for the third […]
Visiting my lovely local bookshop, Chapter One, during Independent Booksellers week meant that they kindly provided me with free coffee, cake and the opportunity to chat with local poet A.F. Harrold. Of course, all free things have their price and so I duly felt obliged to buy a book. ‘I Don’t know why she bothers’ […]
My way of preparing for change has always been to read about relevant subjects so it was inevitable that becoming a parent would lead to an influx of parenting books. This is one I purchased online after seeing a number of positive reviews about it. The subtitle (‘the honest guide that’s on your side – […]