In Australia, anyone who’s spent at least a year with their employer is entitled to take 12 months of unpaid parental leave. That’s 12 months per parent. And yet caring for young children looks like a woman’s game. In the playgrounds, the playgroups, the cafes and libraries all I see is women. Only 1 in […]
Our model for when one parent takes leave
I took 6.5 months of parental leave. I’ve previously shared how valuable it was to have Tee at home for the first two months (leave + WFH). His return to the office was the first test for our equal parenting approach. We didn’t have a game plan but used trial and error to find something […]
Shared feeding: what worked for us
It’s part II of my award-winning series on feeding! You’ve read my manifesto on shared feeding; this is how we’re doing it: Newborn phaseTee gave Buddy a bottle a day from week one. This was usually in the evening, as part of Midwife Cath’s famous ‘BBB’ routine, outlined previously. This meant more sleep but also […]
A 50:50 pregnancy – I think we got this right
The burden of pregnancy seems to fall heavily on the womb-holder – managing physical changes, attending a plethora of medical appointments, setting up the house and administrivia. This seems unfair, and I suspect it creates bad habits, establishing one person as baby expert. Yeah nah. So when got pregnant with Bud, we gave ourselves distinct […]
The starting point: 5 months of baby
Five months ago Tee and I had a baby. So you could say we’re experts at this parenting thing. Over the past five months I’ve had a lot of time (many two minute slots) to think (vainly grasp at concepts) about things and discuss (addled 2am WhatsApps) with friends (anyone who’ll listen). I’ve read the […]