X CLOSE

Parenting and families

Photo of a child in a pink shirt concentrating on writing in a notebook while an adult assists, showing a learning activity.

idea

Why are tiger parents willing to trade love for success?

Growing up under tiger parenting, I’ve seen that pushing a child to succeed often fails – and isn’t worth the emotional cost

by Louis Li

Participants in a parade carry large balloon structures spelling “LOVE” in bright colours, with spectators in the background.

Parenting and families

idea

Radical love: how my trans child changed my identity as a mother

My child grew into a new version of himself – as all children do – and I wondered about my new role. Anger helped me grasp it

by Patricia Martin

A young child passenger sits on the front of a motor scooter, with an older male rider partly visible behind. The rider has tattooed arms and a sign on the scooter reads ‘Thailand’

Personality

idea

How babies’ and children’s temperament varies around the world

International research reveals intriguing regional differences in temperament – the infant precursor to adult personality

by Matt Huston

A child meeting Santa in a mall looks disbelieving

Childhood and adolescence

idea

At what point does the Santa myth become a harmful deception?

Exactly when and how children discover they’ve been duped makes an important difference to the revelatory experience

by Shayla Love

Child wearing a blue gingham school uniform with yellow achievement badges reading “Great Homework,” “Well Done!” and featuring symbols like a star and thumbs up.

Fairness and equality

idea

Teaching self-confidence can backfire and perpetuate inequality

It’s true that self-confidence is beneficial, but the way in which it’s often taught is misguided and can be harmful

by Eddie Brummelman & Kelly Ziemer

A wooden box filled with vintage black-and-white photographs, showing portraits and various scenes, some faded with age.

Parenting and families

idea

I’m childfree by choice. Should I feel guilty about ending my line?

My uterus is not my ancestors’ vessel for future progeny. What’s the impact of my choice on my family’s genetic lineage?

by Starre Vartan

A woman with blonde hair in a bun is reading a book, wearing a dark blue dress and sitting on a chair against a plain white background.

Stories and literature

idea

Forget ‘Little Women’. How did girls learn to be grown women?

How might 19th-century novels for adolescent girls help us find healthier models of what it means to grow up female today?

by Julie Pfeiffer

A large spider sculpture with St. Paul’s Cathedral and cranes in the background on a cloudy day in London.

Poetry

idea

A conversation with my spider Maman and Louise Bourgeois

Woman made of braided steel, monster I call Maman: why am I so scared of you? An imagined conversation with Louise Bourgeois

by Pascale Petit

A large whale surfacing next to a boat with people in life jackets observing and taking photos on a clear day.

Nature and the environment

idea

Grey whales taught me how to mother, how to endure, how to live

When I was in crisis, grey whales taught me how to mother and how to endure, till I could find my own paths through change

by Doreen Cunningham

Black-and-white photo of two babies in vintage robes sitting on a lap against patterned fabric. Both look at the camera.

Photography

idea

Victorian hidden mothers and the continued erasure of mothering

Why do Victorian ‘hidden mother’ photographs shock us? We’re still expected to hide the work of mothering from public view

by Andrea Kaston Tange

A child in a blue silk coat with a golden motif stands by a railway line, half-hidden behind an adult in similar attire.

Personality

idea

Childhood shyness can be advantageous – don’t pathologise it

Given their cautious vigilance, shy children are more likely to detect social threats and anticipate how events will unfold

by Raha Hassan & Kristie Poole

A woman crouched on a beach with two young children. One tugs at her from behind, the other strains against her grasp towards the water.

Parenting and families

idea

Why parenting books are not really written for the parents

Parenting books are not really for parents but for the people writing them, and speak more to their own lives than our own

by Olga Mecking