Baptism of fire: were you pressured to christen your baby?

Kylie Orr What kind of God would deem a tiny baby ineligible for entry into Heaven because they were not cleansed of original sin before they died?

What 'The Voice' can teach us about motherhood and creativity

Amity Dry As The Voice takes over her TV screen and she counts down the days until her musical opens, Amity Dry ponders the ideas of creativity and parenting.

A broken leg, but who's complaining?

Amity Dry A toddler with a broken leg has made Amity Dry grateful for what her family does have - and amazed at the way some other families cope with their misfortunes.

Kids or spouse: who do you love more?

Amity Dry Country singer Keith Urban has admitted to loving his wife, Nicole Kidman, more than his children. Has he got it right, Amity Dry asks, or should the kids always come first?

Amity Dry's blog

Different backgrounds, same dreams

AMITY DRY March 21 is Harmony Day, a day when all Australians can celebrate cultural diversity. For Amity Dry's son, it's just another fun day with his classmates from around the world.

How do you know when you're done?

Amity Dry How do you know when to stop having children? Should you listen to your head - and possibly your bank balance - or your heart?

Amity Dry

Mummy bloggers and tales of woe

What did whinging mums do before forums, Facebook, Twitter and blogs? Did they complain or just get on with it?

Double trouble or twice as nice?

Prue Corlette Most people love babies, but everyone, apparently, loves twins.

How a break from the kids helped me find myself again

Amity Dry It was at about 4am I starting planning how I would get out of my flight to Melbourne that was boarding in three hours. Leaving my children for two days to go and visit The Block set had seemed like such a great idea at the time, but suddenly sleeping through the alarm that would go off any minute felt like a much better plan.

Battle of the sexes

Four-month-old Canadian child Storm has created a real … storm, so to speak.

Regretting motherhood: What if the sacrifices are too great?

Amity Dry Unsure if she wanted to become a mum, now or ever, Kasey Edwards embarked on a process of researching, investigating and option-weighing to decide whether becoming a mother was the right choice for her. Her book Thirty Something And The Clock Is Ticking is the result.

Amity Dry's Blog

An open letter to Pru Goward

Amity Dry If you wanted to alienate every mother in Australia, mission accomplished! Your statement comparing Jackie O bottle-feeding her baby while walking across the road to Michael Jackson HANGING HIS BABY OVER A BALCONY was so absurd it had me wondering if it was a belated April Fools Day joke.

Amity Dry's Blog

Are you a self absorbed mummy?

Amity Dry After all the controversy surrounding the Bonds Baby Competition, we ask the question: "are you a self absorbed Mummy"?

Amity Dry's Blog

Will men and women ever share the load in parenting?

Amity Dry Are things equal in your home or does one spouse take the greater share? Are you happy with the arrangement or does it frustrate you?

Confessions of a co-sleeper

Amity Dry I never thought I’d be a co-sleeper. In fact I vividly recall being pregnant with my first child and pronouncing that would never let my children get used to sleeping in bed with me. Yet here I am all these years later, doing the same thing. And kind of liking it.

Amity Dry's Blog

Doing it by the book - which do you love or hate?

Amity Dry Do you think we follow birth and/or parenting books to slavishly or would you be lost without them?

Amity Dry's Blog

Three's a crowd: how a baby changes a relationship

Amity Dry When I was pregnant with my first child I was blissfully unaware of how much his arrival was going to affect the relationship I had with my husband.

Amity Dry's Blog

Controlled crying: For or against?

Amity Dry I’m tired. After 5 months of broken sleep the fog of sleep deprivation is firmly setting in. And sleep deprivation can lead you to be a bit snappy.

Kylie Orr's blog

Does the perfect pram exist?

Kylie Orr The paradox of modern baby buggies: so much choice yet so little to choose from.

Amity Dry's Blog

Loving your post-baby body

Amity Dry Forget what Hollywood says - the post-baby body is to be embraced, respected and can even be (gasp) sexy!

Amity Dry's Blog

Single mothers by choice

Amity Dry A few months ago I saw an interview with writer Louise Sloan, discussing her book ‘Knock Yourself Up.’ Louise is a single mum who, after finding herself 38 and childless, made the decision to take matters into her own hands and have a child through sperm donation.

Drug free childbirth

Amity Dry When I gave birth to my baby girl three weeks ago I did it drug free. Does that make me a hero or a martyr?

Justice not served: Father blinds son and walks free

Amity Dry In Adelaide last week a father who violently shook his newborn son hard enough to cause brain damage and blindness in both eyes avoided a jail term so that he can be a “father figure” to his son.

Amity Dry's Blog

Motherhood: all a matter of perspective

Amity Dry ‘Is motherhood really that hard?' asked TV reporter Jacinta Tynan in last weeks Sunday Life magazine, and in turn started a hot debate in online forums across the country. Not hard? Are you kidding me?

Motherhood - why it's worth it

Amity Dry With Mother's Day this weekend I thought motherhood could do with a little celebrating, a reminder of why we all love it, even on the days we say we don’t. Because if you, like me, have been reading the articles on parenthood posted on various sites throughout the last week you’d have to be asking yourself why anyone would be mad enough to want to take it on.

Dear Baby, I want you out NOW!

Amity Dry I really REALLY want this baby out now. I am 39 weeks on Thursday and feel like I have been pregnant for about 4 years, with the final week looming like an unachievable hurdle I don’t have the strength to cross. And I am so grumpy and over it I can hardly stand myself.

Midwives and the new baby experience

Amity Dry In my experience midwives really do make or break your new baby experience. And they can have a huge impact on how you feel about yourself as a mother in those first few days in hospital and sometimes even the weeks and months following.

And baby makes four...

Amity Dry My son Jamison has had our undivided attention for four years, so it is going to come as a bit of a shock when he is not the sole focus of everyone anymore.

Are mothers' groups just high school all over again?

Kylie Orr Parenting can be a cliquey game. I had no idea until I tried to squeeze into that mould of a perfect parent and found myself hanging over the sides.

Eating and drinking while pregnant - are we too paranoid?

Amity Dry What is your attitude towards eating and drinking while pregnant? Did you take the risk with listeria foods? Did you continue to drink and, if so, how much? Do you think the guidelines are reasonable? And do you feel left out if you can't drink at social functions?

Has a midwife (or MCHN) ever made you cry?

Kylie Orr Kind words, empathetic smiles, patient instruction and tender advice all got me through those vulnerable moments. Thankfully the great midwives outweigh the substandard ones.

If baby brain's a myth I have serious problems

Amity Dry You scientific people may release your findings and get worldwide recognition of them, but us pregnant women know better. Our brains suck and we know it.

Am I having a boy or a girl?

Amity Dry With not knowing the sex comes the chance to test out all the old wives tales that claim to predict what you are having.

Leave my belly alone

Amity Dry Too big or too small, we can’t win! From our size to our choices on breastfeeding, sleeping arrangements, parenting decisions and going back to work, it seems that everyone has an opinion and isn’t afraid to share it.

Answering tough questions from kids

Amity Dry I always wanted to be one those parents who offered a well thought out and educational answer to my child’s questions, rather than a “Because I said so.” But, I have to admit, some of his questions lately have had me struggling.

The art of naming your child

Kylie Orr Kid's names' are such a source of anxiety, aren’t they? Some people are tight-lipped about their names, thinking it best not to offer them out there too early for fear of ridicule.

Amity Dry's blog

What it means to be a mum

Amity Dry Being a mum is such a uniting force, it is the ultimate common ground. It doesn’t matter what your background is, what your current or previous career was, what your income, where you live or what your life choices are – once you’re a mum we are all inherently the same.

Should breastfeeders have priority seating?

Kylie Orr I needed to breastfeed my baby when out shopping this week. I went to the well equipped parents’ room only to find all three “private feeding booths” taken. Two of the three people were bottle-feeding their babies with the curtain open.

One child is just a toy

Kylie Orr I was listening to a psychologist on a radio program a few years ago, discussing number of children when a caller phoned in with the comment “One child’s a toy!” The host and guest had a good laugh. As the mother of one at the time, I was extremely resentful of such a remark.

A complete family or a complete dilemma?

Kylie Orr My mum tells me she wanted six children and my father wanted eight. They compromised and had four. Clearly, maths wasn’t their strong point.

Parents struggle for words

Karen Kissane in Kinglake The boys charge down the slide and manfully shovel sand with spades as long as they are. The big girls run around on top of the brightly coloured equipment and the little ones draw butterflies.