When Hattie and Joe were ten months old I wrote a blog post in which I mentioned the book Duct Tape Parenting. I really enjoyed it at the time, and I’d like to read it again: in summary, it was all about encouraging parents to sit back a bit and give their children the freedom to try things,… Continue reading Free range parenting, NZ style

Hattie and Joe have a huge number of books. I love books, and reading, and I really want them to be keen readers too, so I figured that the best way to help with that goal is to make books a crucial part of their lives. Their big book collection has come about not because… Continue reading In the bear cave

Lots of twin mothers I know locally have been what the youth of today would refer to as “all up in my grill” about making rainbow rice for Hattie and Joe. Rainbow rice is not colourful rice to eat (although that’s a great idea too): it’s uncooked rice that is coloured, and then gives little… Continue reading Rainbow rice

Our suburb is lovely for many reasons: the park that backs onto our garden (an enormous lawn that we don’t have to mow!); the gorgeous beach only ten minutes’ walk from our house; the great cafes; the primary school just up our road; Tristan’s five minute commute… And one of the great assets is the… Continue reading At the playground

The weather is steadily improving here, and it’s starting to feel almost summery. Eager to make the most of it, particularly after I largely missed out on enjoying last summer on account of being enormously pregnant, and then being housebound with mewing newborns, I’ve been out for a walk with Hattie and Joe most afternoons.… Continue reading Free range babies