Family
Where the heart dares to tread, politicians’ chequebooks follow in an election year. Tony Abbot embraced his (sort of) inner feminist on Monday announcing his proposed maternity leave plan that would see women paid up to $150,000 for six months’ at home after their baby is born.
This, on the heels of Kevin Rudd’s maternity leave proposal that offers women the minimum wage of $544 for 18 weeks, due for delivery in January in 2011, is surely good news for women and men keen to do their bit of our nation’s population growth.
But in this mad scramble to win the hearts and minds and bank accounts of “working families” have Rudd and Abbot paused to consider whether maternity leave is necessarily a positive thing for women?
Continue reading "Could women actually be the losers from maternity leave" »
Pay attention all parents before the Family Court and any parent who has come to the attention of the Police or community services. Here’s the deal: your kids’ rights trump yours.
Last week the Government got a report suggesting that some parents think that a system that respects a child’s right to have the benefit of access to both parents means that they have a right, an automatic and overriding right, to equal custody.
If I may abandon the normal strictures of politeness for the sake of kids having their lives wrecked by selfish or abusive parents - stuff that.
Continue reading "Getting tough on parents when kids come second" »
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concerned parent says:
hi all i am a resident parent my xs partner has being using the court system to control my life for nine years now back in 2004 at every unsupervised visit he would abuse me in front of our son and threaten to kill me because of child support putting… Read more »
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xBeanie says:
The bit about abusive parents is such a red herring. Why would you want to give a known offender any unsupervised access to the children? The problem is this argument is being used to try and get the laws reversed to where the mother gets almost automatic custody, with the… Read more »
A few years ago there was a funny little survey funded by fruitgrowers which spoke volumes about the relationship between men and women, particularly on the vexed question of domestic chores.
The survey found that the overwhelming majority of men refused to eat fruit, but said they would be prepared to eat fruit if someone could peel it, cut it into small pieces and hand it to them on a plate.
The survey has at its centre a kind of male patheticness which many blokes seem to regard as endearing, and which most women probably cannot stand.
Continue reading "In politics as in life, working women can’t win" »
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hmmm says:
DG, you’re right that housework is a domestic issue. I do not believe however we just make a choice to not do housework, or to do housework. There are bare minimums as to what is expected when it comes to basic hygiene in the house. I have seen on countless… Read more »
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DG says:
AMEN! Read more »
Another happy-go-lucky Hollywood production is out about infidelity: ‘It’s Complicated’. It may even win the star of the movie an academy award.
I don’t want to rain on Merryl Streep’s parade, but what’s not complicated is fidelity to your partner and kids.
There are two simple rules – your marriage matters more than nearly everything else, and if you are a parent, be a parent.
Continue reading "What’s not complicated about marriage and family" »
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H of SA says:
Nice to know we don’t disagree all the time hey Phil? Ha ha, most likely it would take a very special lack of self reflection and remarkable life experience for any of us to be wrong and or not in agreement 100% of the time. I guess thats one of… Read more »
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Steve says:
@Lisa “In any case, marriage happens well after sexual experience has begun, ... ... the idea of saving ‘your best’ for marriage has gone. Women are now expected to provide their best before marriage, to prove themselves worthy of the crown.” A true friendship must be built on mutual respect.… Read more »
Would you believe it if I told you more Australians know what their loved one’s favourite tipple is, or the song that tops their personal playlist, or what their go-to comfort food is - than whether or not, if the end was nigh, they would choose to be an organ donor?
It sounds slightly flippant when you put it like that but that’s the finding from a new national survey of 3800 Australians conducted on behalf of the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority.
The survey also revealed most Australians believe ending a relationship, talking to an elderly family member about aged care and explaining the birds and the bees to their kids are harder conversations to have with their loved ones than organ and tissue donation.
Continue reading "If you discuss one thing with your family this Christmas…" »
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Vigrx says:
Well I believe that this brief is something which necessity more limelight of your readers. Read more »
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Mother of Perth says:
Very important topic, I think one of the best in the Punch. Organ donations is the highest thing humans can do, together with love. We know that love exist in other animals, but to save someones life by donating your organs, to save person we don’t know is the ultimate… Read more »
In a speech last month, our outspoken Treasury Secretary Ken Henry referred to the hitherto unknown but enticingly-titled “Treasury well being framework” as a measure of determining what is best for families and working parents.
Wow ! After years as the ultimate BBQ stopper-conversation, maybe the esteemed boffins at Treasury stumbled upon the elusive answer to the work/life balance question?
I looked forward to reading the magic formula and seeing how I measured up.
Continue reading "Stay-at-home parents left out in the cold by Treasury" »
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jayne says:
I have been trying to find a job for 2yrs with the socalled employment agency they are hopeless best to go yourself to look. I still havent a job. I am a single decent person and find it so hard financially I am 13,000 in debt as my children want… Read more »
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Helen says:
I am a bit with Woody Allen on this one - when it comes to raising children I adopt the “Whatever it takes appraoch” Ummm.. better not go there! O_o Read more »
It’s one of pop culture’s great clichés that some actors and some films are best known for their great dying scenes.
I’m watching another dying scene right now, but this is real life and to the people involved, as the weeks have gone by, it seems all the drama has been bleached out of it. The dull flat winter days are turning to vibrant spring. My family is watching my mother slowly dying.
I hold her hand. The cancer inside her is fighting hard. She is resilient and quietly tough and fighting too. But by this stage, we all know what the final result will be. It’s a matter of time, a matter of days. The nurses and the palliative care team, magnificent, tireless, dedicated, work to make her comfortable.
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Steve says:
Thank you Duncan for sharing that very personal moment We lost my mum and dad late last year within months of each other, they had been together, Darby and Joan for 59 years. a testiment to the capacity of a couples love. makes you hug your kids all that much… Read more »
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Maria says:
It is amazing how we have these epiphanies in times when we are contemplative over issues that matter to us, many of which are so real and true they go beyond the surface of an otherwise fleeting thought. As Duncan has written, too many of us are just cooped up… Read more »
MY wife’s mother died a few days ago. A stroke it was, suffered on Father’s Day.
It was very sudden and deeply distressing as a result, for though she was 85, she had been in good health for a person of her years.
She’d lived by herself in her own home, did for herself, managed her affairs with careful and practiced prudence.height="270" />
Continue reading "The public hospital system is fuelled by love, not money" »
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Bob says:
my wife is a nurse. she watched a 7 month old baby die today. she and everyone else around were in tears. the grief of the parents must be unimaginable. it’s only when you know someone in the system or maybe sometimes you become a client or relative of a… Read more »
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Widow to shift work says:
My condolences, Roger. I am glad you found reason to appreciate the dedication of our healthcare professionals in such a hard time for your family. Unfortunately, you and your family are the minority - by that I mean your attitude towards hospital workers is appreciative. My family members who work… Read more »
Fathers Day - or in our house Feathrs or Farthers day depending upon the cards I received last year - is nearly upon the kids. Last year I got lots of cards - approximately 8 by my count. I don’t have that many children nor did I discover I had some I didn’t know about. Instead my known children were extremely productive; to the tune of 2.67 cards per child. What is more, they were all self-made.
We now have a rule at home that Hallmark holidays should mean that no money should be spent that would go anywhere near Hallmark. That means everything is made.
Not only did I get the cards but several paintings and a treasure hunt. The last one was imaginative but, ultimately fast, because my then 6 year old son organised the whole thing but didn’t have the patience to wait for me to decipher his clues and took me straight to the treasure.
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Stefano says:
So Simmo, you confirm what we all know - Father’s day and Mother’s day are just bullshit. Retail exercises contrived by retailers to extract the dollars from your wallet in the name of lurv. Read more »
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Simmo says:
i had the task of buying my own presdent for this year as my wife couldn’t get the kids to agree on what to get me. I was told to get a DVD of my choice which I thought to be easy but the i ended up spending over an… Read more »
Noted US Professor of Economics James Heckman is a much quoted figure by the Australian Labor Party.
In these times of economic upheaval and challenge his message has a unique and appealing social angle – essentially his work outlines the economic benefits of investing well in early childhood education to address social disadvantage.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has quoted Heckman extensively in the past, and did so again this week in his Burgmann College Address , saying:
Continue reading "Big Brother Rudd ignores the family in education" »
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Albion No More says:
My best friend at school was raised by an arty farty left loving lesbian, who was prohibited by law from marrying her long-time partner. My friend is a Christian who has been married for twenty years and has children of his own. I’m glad to see you would support official… Read more »
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Joe says:
Now that Rudd is talking about being preventative (well he is on things like ciggies and booze that he can tax the hell out of) it would be much more efective to support familmilies, preventing family break down and the need for DOCS services, removing children and such support. Read more »
I have four children. That’s not an easy thing for me to admit in public. It’s not that I am ashamed of it, far from it, but it brings with it an expectation from people about how I should be/have that I don’t always live up to. Let’s just say it’s one of many well-worn-out stereotypes I don’t do well.
It bothers me though that I feel compelled to somewhat mask this side of my life, not out of privacy, but for fear that my own identity will be drowned out by the din of social constructs that requires one’s personality to drop out of your vagina when giving birth to your first child.
I can’t believe that “motherhood” is still in need of an image shake-up in 2009, or we at the very least we need to extend the parameters of how we expect mothers to behave.
Continue reading "Apprentice’s tale: mums don’t lose personality in birth" »
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Pete says:
Some of the disparaging comments written here particularly by Suzie Q are unbelievable. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but when that opinion is not based on fact, is it really worth anything? I think not. I believe Heather is entitled to do what she is doing and basically it… Read more »
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Tony Brown says:
I don’t know If I said it already but ...I’m so glad I found this site…Keep up the good work I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say GREAT… Read more »
There’s a quiet revolution going on in the suburban backyards of Australia.
Rather than sitting back and admiring our perfectly manicured “outside rooms”, gazing lovingly at our mondo grass, perfectly coiffed hedges of murraya, buxus or newly acquired rows of trendy agaves, we are choosing to head outside armed with buckets of kitchen scraps, water collected from baths and showers while we attempt to figure out where we should build a chicken coop, locate the veggie patch, compost heap and herb garden.
Suffering a slow death (and not for lack of water) is the passive, over-structured garden. Instead we are rediscovering how much fun it is to actually interact with Mother Nature and the vital lessons she has to impart to us and our children about nourishing ourselves and our environment.
Continue reading "Chooks and chokos are more fun than mondo grass" »
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Allison says:
Thank you for this great article. I am about to share it with quite a few fellow quiet gardeners. Read more »
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dave says:
There doesn’t seem to be any evidence, either statistical or anecdotal, to support your thesis of a mass return to the good old days. Sounds like a bogus trend dreamed up for the sake of an article supporting your personal world view rather than something actually occurring out there in… Read more »
There is an online revolution occurring with women taking to the blogsphere at a phenomenal rate.
They are connecting, supporting, sharing, creating and doing business with people they probably have never met.
It is a new wave of feminism.
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Sally T says:
The best thing about mummy bloggers? They provide a sense of connection, and a means of overcoming isolation, that new mothers can find a godsend. For that alone I applaud them. Read more »
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kim at allconsuming says:
HOLY CRAP Emma - you mentioned me on THE PUNCH!?! And here I was feeling sorry for myself that the Ed hadn’t responded to me with my piece on being at home with sick children during the holidays. Now they’re all going to come visit and I don’t even have… Read more »
These things I remember.
I’m in a car, bumping along a stony track in the mountains, when suddenly, to the right, a big, sand-coloured helicopter rises up out of a valley. It’s close - close enough to see the eyes of the heavy-machine-gun operator flick contemptuously my way, before dismissing me as a potential target as the aircraft banks and flies off.
I’m in a sub-tropical rainforest in the rain. Suddenly, from my left, I see a flash of movement: a wolf, its fangs bared, charging towards me. I pull out a sword and defend myself.
Continue reading "Second Life? I’ve got enough on my plate with the first" »
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William Colvin says:
At G. My father, Mark Colvin, has a serious and chronic illness called Wegeners Granulomitosis. It has seriously affected his life, he was in hospital for about 2 years when I was three years old. He came very, very close to death. Because of this illness he needs to take… Read more »
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g says:
I won’t discriminate based on colour, creed, religion or illness… a recycled story is a boring story. Read more »
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