Parents and parenting

Healthy Babies programme to be expanded across England

by The Guardian | Sep 30, 2026 | Children, Family, Labour, Parents and parenting, Politics, Poverty, Social exclusion, Society, The Guardian, UK news | 0 |

Scheme will follow principles of Sure Start, helping families with infant feeding, mental health and bonding with babiesThe government is rolling out a Healthy Babies programme to every local authority in England, as part of its...

‘I’d like to explain why I was such a monster back then’: six writers on the apologies they wish they’d made

by The Guardian | Sep 27, 2026 | Books, Bullying, Children, Family, Fostering, Health & wellbeing, Life and style, Nikesh Shukla, Parents and parenting, Relationships, Sexuality, The Guardian | 0 |

From making life hell for a young teacher to doubting the motives of a caring foster mother, Olivia Petter, Derek Owusu, Annie Lord and other writers repent for past bad behaviourAt school, I was not a good girl. Actually,...

The kindness of strangers: I was a ball of stress taking my four children on an international flight – then a passenger tucked a blanket around my sleeping son

by The Guardian | Sep 20, 2026 | Air transport, Australian lifestyle, Family, Parents and parenting, The Guardian | 0 |

Walking on to the plane with the kids in tow, I could almost hear people think, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want to be seated next to them!’Read more in the kindness of strangers seriesI won’t lie – I was having nightmares before the...

Don’t be afraid to be masculine, laugh more, and phone your mum: letters to our sons, by Stephen Graham, Riz Ahmed, Danny Dyer and other wise men

by The Guardian | Sep 19, 2026 | Adolescence, Culture, Danny Dyer, Family, Life and style, Men, Parents and parenting, Riz Ahmed, Romesh Ranganathan, Society, Stephen Graham, Television & radio, The Guardian, Tom Daley | 0 |

The Adolescence actor and the psychologist Orly Klein asked fathers to write to their sons. The results – from famous dads to the wisdom of strangers – were moving and motivating. Here’s a selectionWhat can I say? From the...

Spermageddon, ‘greedy jobs’ and abject fear: why birth rates are plummeting – and why it matters

by The Guardian | Sep 17, 2026 | Books, Culture, Depopulation, Family, Life and style, Parents and parenting, Population, Pregnancy, The Guardian, World News | 0 |

The author of Generation Maybe, Camilla Cavendish, explains the many reasons people are having fewer children, from dating apps to unaffordable housing and the climate crisisGeneration Maybe is the most tactful possible title...

The girl with a will to live: the love, hope and pain of raising Elsie – my one in 163 million daughter

by The Guardian | Sep 16, 2026 | Care workers, Childbirth, Children's health, Disability, Family, Genetics, Health, IVF, Life and style, Parents and parenting, Pregnancy, Social care, Society, The Guardian | 0 |

She was born with an ultra-rare genetic disorder. After my decades working in film PR, I now face the biggest campaign of all: the fight for her lifeMy daughter Elsie has beautiful curls – blond like a little Botticelli...

Hurrah, lie-ins may be good for us – if only I can convince my five-year-old daughter | Arwa Mahdawi

by The Guardian | Sep 9, 2026 | Health & wellbeing, Life and style, Parents and parenting, Science, Sleep, The Guardian | 0 |

CEOs may like to get up at the crack of dawn and go for a run, but I prefer optimising my life with lie-ins, trashy films, swearing and coffeeThis evening I’m going to tuck my five-year-old into bed and read her a chapter from...

I went to Ikea with my son – and was confronted with my parenting failures | Zoe Williams

by The Guardian | Sep 8, 2026 | Education, Family, Higher education, Ikea, Life and style, Parents and parenting, Students, The Guardian | 0 |

The pre-university shop is the moment you find out how much domestic wisdom you’ve managed to impart. In my case, noneI have yet again found my ultimate tribe in a high-street shop, this time Ikea. As far as the eye could see,...

Chat to strangers and let your kids be bored: how to embrace a ‘slow September’ – and enjoy life more

by The Guardian | Sep 4, 2026 | Family, Health, Health & wellbeing, Life and style, Mental health, Parents and parenting, The Guardian, Work & careers, Work-life balance | 0 |

The pressure to self-optimise at the start of the new school year can lead to disappointment and burnout. Instead, here are seven ways to slow things down and reap the benefitsIt is a hangover from our school days that September...

Experience: I didn’t know I was pregnant until I gave birth

by The Guardian | Sep 4, 2026 | Family, Health & wellbeing, Life and style, Parents and parenting, Pregnancy, The Guardian | 0 |

There’d been no morning sickness, cravings or tiredness. My mum didn’t believe I’d had a baby – even after seeing her on FaceTimeWhen I was 19, I went to college in Texas, where I met my boyfriend Preston. It was 2023 and I had...

Experience: I found my long-lost twin aged 49

by The Guardian | Aug 14, 2026 | Biology, Family, Life and style, Parents and parenting, Siblings, The Guardian | 0 |

The joy, disbelief and shock of discovering I had a brother the same age as me came with a million questions. How were we separated and why?In 1975, my parents saw an advert in their local Australian newspaper. With the Vietnam...

Paid police paternity leave to double after fathers reported being ‘ostracised’

by The Guardian | Aug 12, 2026 | Children, Employee benefits, England, Family, Maternity & paternity rights, Metropolitan police, Parents and parenting, Police, Politics, Public services policy, Society, The Guardian, UK news, Wales, Work & careers | 0 |

Exclusive: Pay increases to two weeks in England and Wales after Guardian revealed officers ‘mocked’ for taking time offPaid paternity leave for police in England and Wales is to double, after the Guardian revealed last year...

Category: Parents and parenting