Dear Richard: ‘My adult son has turned our home into a war zone’
Dear Richard, Since graduating with a 2:1 in the summer, our 23-year-old son has returned home but has done almost nothing since. He has got into a…
I’ve said no to after school clubs – if my kids get bored, brilliant?
Ssh! Don’t tell the other mums, but I am actively dissuading my kids from after-school clubs. It’s not at all fashionable but I’m actively resisting enrolling my…
How the West stopped having babies
“I currently rent a flat on the top floor of a house owned by a friend,’ says Anneka Sutcliffe, 33, a well-educated professional violinist from Bristol. “I’m…
Writing is on the wall for handwriting as schools trial digital exams
He also claimed that online exams would be much greener than shipping millions of exam papers around the country before collecting them all again in Milton Keynes…
GB News, the West End and a billion-dollar fashion label: what the Grange Hill cast did next
Grange Hill had passed its peak by the Nineties but limped into the Noughties, when it relocated to Phil Redmond’s native Liverpool, where the set is now…
Just William – the rebel who exposed our deepest flaws
One of the more delightfully familiar bits of radio programming over the Christmas period was Martin Jarvis reading Richmal Crompton’s Just William stories, which the actor started…
GB News, the West End and a billion-dollar fashion label: what the cast of Grange Hill did next
Grange Hill had passed its peak by the Nineties but limped into the Noughties, when it relocated to Phil Redmond’s native Liverpool, where the set is now…
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: More vulnerable children to be protected during lockdown school closures
Emma Tustin was found guilty of the “wicked and evil” murder of Arthur last month, while Thomas Hughes, his father, was convicted of his manslaughter. When Arthur…
Grow up, Worzel Gummidge prudes – a little innuendo is good for children
Worzel Gummidge fans have been getting their turnips in a twist over a new episode of the Mackenzie Crook reboot of the beloved children’s TV show. A special Christmas…
Mackenzie Crook: ‘Worzel Gummidge would give Extinction Rebellion the thumbs up’
The folk-horror element, perhaps, comes from the fact that more and more Britons find the countryside itself dark and foreboding, an otherworldly place (without wifi). While there…
Children’s sleep isn’t affected by excessive phone use in the day – only at night
Children can lose sleep if they go on their phone too much before bed but not if they look at it during the day, a study has…
Dear Prue: ‘Should we go booze-free this Christmas?’
Dear Prue, My father-in-law has recently given up alcohol, much to the whole family’s delight. He drank far too much for years and it had become a…
17 board games your children will actually want to play
It’s Bananas 2 or more players; age 6 and over. £23.99 Instructions: bizarrely complicated and may leave you losing the will to live, let alone play Roll…
I’m sick of apologising for having an only child
Speaking as the mother of one young son, I must say this parenting lark is a breeze. A doddle. An absolute cinch. I mean, let’s face it:…
‘My husband and I can’t agree on how much to spend on Christmas presents’
Dear A&E, I come from quite a ‘conservative at Christmas’ family, where we give one meaningful gift, but Christmas at my in-laws’ is a present-fest: they spend…
Why is school food all so… beige?
She also says she’s seen a real change in the way that the staff relate to their work. “When stuff comes in vacuum packed, you’re very removed…
‘Life in an empty nest was exciting, so having our son back was a big adjustment’
Like many parents in the same position, Jo and her husband, Jeremy, are happy to help their son get started on his career path – but cohabiting…
Dark days of lockdown have given abusers perfect cover to attack children like Arthur Labinjo-Hughes
In June last year, the NSPCC produced a report titled Isolated and Struggling, which attempted to quantify the risk of child maltreatment during lockdown. The research behind…
Woke children’s books have pushed everything else off the shelves
All I wanted was a book to explain the story of Chanukah for children. Was that so much to ask? I know Judaism is a small religion…
It’s funny how it’s always children who lose out from Covid restrictions
Here we go again. Four months after that bold (correct) decision to go ahead with Freedom Day, we’re scuttling for cover. We face our first test and…
Dear Prue: ‘I have had a terrible row with my son’
Dear Prue, I have two sons: the elder an unemployed geologist, the younger a teacher. My younger son recently bought a new house and organised a house-warming…
A Boy Called Christmas, review: where there should be magic and charm, there’s nothing but gloop
Dir: Gil Kenan Starring: Henry Lawfull, Maggie Smith, Michiel Huisman, Jim Broadbent, Toby Jones, Sally Hawkins, Joel Fry, Zoe Colletti, Kristen Wiig. PG cert, 103 min This…
Duchess of Cambridge ‘super impressed’ by teenagers learning the science of parenting
She seemed particularly impressed when one boy said he would utilise his new knowledge to help his siblings too. “That’s so important,” she told him. “What happens…
How to be a modern grandparent: 10 rules you might not know but definitely should
1. Can I have a say in what they’re called? Before the birth perhaps but definitely not after. Our whole family has spent ages listening to names…