Parenting in the news

Congratulations to the mum who recently posted the following on Target's Facebook page:

"Dear Target, Could you possibly make a range of clothing for girls 7-14 years that doesn't make them look like tramps … You have lost me as a customer when buying apparel for my daughter as I don't want her thinking shorts up her backside are the norm or fashionable.''

(According to The Age, last night the post had attracted more than 44,000 ''likes'' and 2300 comments ...

A magazine cover of a stunning women breastfeeding a three year old child. Both stare in to the camera with a slight look of defiance. I am slightly taken aback, not only by the beauty of the mother but also by the fact that if she has been feeding her child for THREE years how on earth does her breast look so pert and 'non saggy'??

Have you seen the cover of Time Magazine? To some it will be confronting. To others it will be beautiful. To Time Magazine - it is clearly a ploy ...

A round of applause for Chrissie Swan.

Chrissie Swan has lifted the lid on yet another motherhood myth - you know the one that says that as mothers we must do it all. Raise the kids, do the housework, cook the dinner, stock the fridge and hold down a fab career? Not sure where this myth comes from, however it seems to be one that is universally held. Crazy stuff.

Chrissie Swan has outed herself by admitting that her 'babysitter' is actually a 'nanny' ...

There are plenty of post baby books to help interprit the poos and the burps and the chucks and the snot, but when I had my first baby there weren't any books about how to look after 'me'.

I was sometimes lost in a sea of doubt. And my doubt was not always about how to be a great mum and how to look after my baby. Often my doubts were how to be a 'great me'. Frankly I felt a bit lost - who was I now? I had gone from being a corporate high flyer to a poo covered zombie in the blink ...

I remember well when I was a new mum. It is an exhilerating, wonderful and scary time. I remember the uncertainty, the newness and often feeling like I was just not sure. I also remember that everyone seemed to have an opinion.

Most people were happy to share this opinion, even when I didn't actually ask for their advice. I'm not quite sure where this compulsion to bestow parental advice comes from. But often it is invasive, upsetting and can cause you to double guess your own ...