“Mum, I’m bored. What can I do?” As a parent, I have found this persistent cry deeply irritating – and genuinely confusing. My children are surrounded by toys, books, opportunities and activity books. They have access to a garden and to art materials, to siblings, cuddly toys and bicycles. How, I wonder, can they possibly […]
We’re all familiar with the notion of a placebo. We all know how powerful placebos can be, but it’s perhaps rarer to recognise the power of noceboes. In ‘Humankind’, Rutger Bregman is determined to disabuse us of one particularly devastating nocebo, ‘veneer theory’. This is the widely accepted idea that our civil natures are only […]
So it turns out Neo was right; we are living in a matrix. Or, more accurately, reality is not ‘real’ but the constant creation of our ever-busy brains, which are significantly more powerful than any man-made computer, constantly interpreting the world around us to create the perception of a rich sensory environment. Did you know […]
So this is 2020. I think most of us may be in need of a little light relief by now. This being the case, I should like to draw your attention towards the latest (highly entertaining) book from cartoonist and habitually overwhelmed mum of three boys, Katie Kirby. What’s it about? I am definitely going […]
Once upon a time I thought I was tired. I worked hard. I worked long hours, during term time at least. I loved my job and, as a teacher, I worked daily with groups of up to 31 children, who mostly did what I asked them to do. Then I had children of my own […]
I am always intrigued by books about books. What could possibly be better than, when closing the final pages of a book, discovering it has led you to create a list of twenty or so other books you really want to read? I also really liked the premise of this particular book, a memoir by […]
Parenting. It’s a daily battle – but does it have to be? In ‘The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did)’, psychotherapist Phillipa Perry explores parent-child relationships with a view to encouraging parents to relate more effectively to their children. What’s it about? I’m going to […]
There are many times when I’d love to know what my son is thinking. What is he thinking when he completely ignores me repeatedly calling his name? (Has he heard me or is he too absorbed in his play?) What about when he says, “Mummy…” then falls silent for a full minute, before repeating the […]
How’s your relationship with the drug in your living room? I have an uneasy relationship with TV. There are a few programmes I like but I never watch it by myself, because there’s always so much else to do that I can’t justify the time. However, my husband watches it every evening, either concentrating on […]
When a loved one takes their own life, we are stunned. Even if it was expected – and often it isn’t – we wonder how they can have taken themselves away from us. Dr Jo-Ann Rowland sought to investigate some of the whys by focusing on a specific sub-set of one community with a high […]