Advice

What should you do when your child wants to give up a sport, hobby or instrument?

By Heidi Scrimgeour, May 24, 2012

Your child begs and pleads to be allowed to learn how to play the piano or to take up a new sport, and you happily indulge their enthusiasm, shelling out a small fortune for all the necessary kit, only for your budding Olympian or concert pianist to fall spectacularly out of love with it, begging and pleading to be allowed to give it up.

Do manners still matter?

By Olivia Gordon, May 18, 2012

David Cameron has said that children should stand up when a teacher - or even their parent - enters the room, prompting widespread debate.

Would vouchers for parenting classes make you a better parent?

By Ursula Hirschkorn, May 15, 2012

Would free parenting classes make you a better parent? I don't think so. David Cameron's proposed Band Aid to slap on the problem of poor parenting is to offer £100 vouchers to pay for lessons in how to feed, discipline and educate your child.

Talking to kids about homosexuality: Really not a big deal

By Lucy Jolin, May 12, 2012

My son was four when he asked me why our neighbours, Carl and Rob, didn't have a 'lady living in their house.'

How to have a happier family

By Giulia Rhodes, May 11, 2012

Mornings in our house can be fraught. By the time clothes, breakfast, teeth cleaning, shoes, coats and book bags have been attended to for three children, tempers are frequently fraying. I am generally heartily sick of the sound of my own voice.

Will you sign up to the parental rules of solidarity?

By Laura Kemp, May 10, 2012

Parenting, as we all know, is a minefield. There's nothing more exasperating than hearing everyone else's mums and dads let their kids stay up late, eat crisps for breakfast and buy them the latest smartphone on the market.

Tidying kids' rooms: Their job or yours?

By Kelly Rose Bradford, May 5, 2012

I have declared my son's bedroom a no go area. It is, I've decided the easiest way to keep my sanity - not to mention my temper – in check. Not to mention exorcising a few ghosts from the enforced bedroom blitzs of my own childhood.

Why is bored a dirty word?

By Ursula Hirschkorn, May 1, 2012

It is only the beginning of the holiday, but I am already getting that tight feeling around my skull as I try to think up activities to keep the children amused that are both tolerable for me and don't cost the earth.

The REAL 50 things your child may do before the age of 12

By Laura Kemp, Apr 17, 2012

The National Trust has released a bucket list for kids. It's absolutely lovely – all shinning trees, scrumping apples, bringing up a butterfly, eating blackberries straight from the bush and camping in the wild. But if this all feels a bit unrealistically Famous Five, here is my own 21st century version – the REAL 50 things to do before you're 12...

Do computers damage young children's brains?

By Keith Kendrick, Apr 7, 2012

Do computers damage young children's brains? It's a question many of us hard-pushed parents struggle with when we're juggling the demands of preparing meals, housework and god knows what else each and every day.

Is it OK to boast about your child?

By Elsie Button, Apr 4, 2012

I have just witnessed my two-year-old complete a jigsaw puzzle aimed at 4-7 year olds. This is the same child who was talking in full sentences when she was 18 months old, potty trained herself, and can count to 32.

Mind the gap! What is the best age gap between children?

By Rachel Mostyn, Mar 29, 2012

I was walking around Sainsbury's recently with my three children crammed into the trolley; the three-year-old and 16-month-old fighting over breadsticks in the front and the four-year-old surfing in the main compartment stamping on the bread and squashing the grapes.