https://www.scmp.com/rss/35039/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com A lot of people are looking for ways to cope with bad air quality, whether it be smoke from forest fires in California, smog in New Delhi and Beijing, or a seasonal change in wind direction sweeping factory pollutants into Hong Kong’s skies. So what are some of the practical steps you can take to protect yourself and ease your worries about the air you are forced to breathe? And what do the experts say? California fires: in ashes of Paradise, they sift for victims with sieves 1. Face... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2173355/beat-bad-air-quality-three-ways-cope-air-pollution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/2173355/beat-bad-air-quality-three-ways-cope-air-pollution?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Nov 2018 06:30:00 +0000 Jorial Funtaniel is 32 and has four children under the age of 12. She recently started work at a new job in Hong Kong with big hopes and dreams. Like many working mothers in Hong Kong, she hopes to fund her family's day-to-day life and her children's education, and to save for the future. Like them, she leaves her children in the care of someone else while she is at work. But unlike local working mothers, she will only get to see her children once every two years. As a domestic helper, Funtaniel... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/1976195/hong-kong-domestic-helpers-dreams-dashed-debt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/1976195/hong-kong-domestic-helpers-dreams-dashed-debt?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Jun 2016 22:45:30 +0000 Where is it? The five-star Sedona Hotel couldn't be more conveniently located, standing halfway between the airport and the old town of Yangon, Myanmar's largest city and, until 2006, its capital. The Sedona is also a mere 15-minute drive from the famous Shwedagon Pagoda, with its 99-metre-high golden dome. The 431-room Inya Wing, named after the lake on whose gently lapped shores the hotel sits, has just opened. Is the Inya Wing anything special? In a word: yes. The design is based on the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel-leisure/article/1901097/sedona-hotel-yangon-luxurious-intriguing-base?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel-leisure/article/1901097/sedona-hotel-yangon-luxurious-intriguing-base?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Jan 2016 12:45:45 +0000 "Hong Kong is a workplace not a family place," says Edith Lemardelee, a French maternity nurse who has worked in the city for more than 20 years. "There's absolutely no flexibility here for families." She is responding to the question of whether the city's statutory maternity leave of 10 weeks at 80 per cent pay is adequate. I have put this question formally to 20 women of different nationalities and from various walks of life. Informally, I have discussed this subject with many more women.... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1873679/why-hong-kong-failing-its-young-families?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1873679/why-hong-kong-failing-its-young-families?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Oct 2015 14:30:15 +0000 Jean Leung Siu-wah is known in south Lantau as the "buffalo whisperer". Slight and in her 60s, she moves with grace among the grey, mud-spattered beasts that amble gently through the island's green, open spaces. Leung has lived on Lantau for more than three decades. For six years, she has been feeding and taking care of the buffalo around Pui O. Every day, she walks through the wetlands, delivering fresh banana and sweet potato leaves and fruit to the animals. One buffalo in particular receives... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1849170/time-running-out-fast-hong-kongs-water-buffalo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1849170/time-running-out-fast-hong-kongs-water-buffalo?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Aug 2015 15:30:30 +0000 It's Saturday morning and the sun shines brightly on Tung Lung Chau, a beautiful island to the south of the Clear Water Bay peninsula. Birds wheel overhead, waves crash onto the shore and the thrum of distant boat engines can be heard from the channel. Accessible only by kaito ferry services at the week-ends and on public holidays, the island's permanent residents are a couple of families running noodle shacks. Tung Lung Chau is also home to a 300-year-old fort, the largest ancient rock carving... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1796385/rock-climbing-hong-kong-thrill-seekers-scale-citys-many?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1796385/rock-climbing-hong-kong-thrill-seekers-scale-citys-many?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 May 2015 07:30:15 +0000 Dominique de Villepin, erstwhile prime minister of France, is in Hong Kong to talk art, not politics, although, it turns out, old habits die hard. As the tall Frenchman surveys the earthy-toned canvasses and large abstract works splashed with pastel and metallic hues on show at the Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery, on Ice House Street, he explains his patronage of the South Korean behind the "Fleeting Eternities" exhibition: "Myonghi is a woman who never makes any concession to the market. She follows... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1741790/former-french-prime-minister-dominique-de-villepin-says-art?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1741790/former-french-prime-minister-dominique-de-villepin-says-art?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2015 14:45:45 +0000 Sally Lo has lived with cancer for nearly 30 years. She has not been afflicted by "the big C" herself but, as founder of the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, she has been surrounded by the disease through her work and, recently, it struck closer to home, when her husband of more than 40 years, Robert Lo Kai-leung, had to wage his own battle. "I have lost a lot of friends over the years," Sally says. "You become close to people and then lose them, which is, of course, very difficult. But, sharing the last... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1710747/hong-kong-cancer-funds-sally-and-robert-lo-take-big-c?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1710747/hong-kong-cancer-funds-sally-and-robert-lo-take-big-c?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2015 14:30:00 +0000 Hong Kong has an air pollution problem. If the territory conformed to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) standards for clean air, only 10 per cent of the days here would pass muster. According to the WHO, air pollution is "the world's single largest environmental risk". In October last year, the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified air pollution as a group 1 carcinogen for the first time. This puts it in the same category as smoking cigarettes, with "sufficient... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1689002/beating-hong-kongs-bad-air-best-ways-defend-your-lungs-air?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1689002/beating-hong-kongs-bad-air-best-ways-defend-your-lungs-air?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2015 14:15:15 +0000 GROWING UP AROUND STARS My father, Sir Terry Farrell, is one of Britain’s best-known architects. He designed Charing Cross Station, the MI6 (headquarters building) and the Home Office, in London, and the Peak Tower and Kowloon Station, in Hong Kong. My mum, Rosie, was a home economics teacher. My parents split up when I was two and my mother moved to Ipswich, in Suffolk (England), and opened her own restaurant, Rosie’s Place. As a Michelin-starred restaurant, it was very popular and busy. Every... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1655406/my-life-jo-farrell?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1655406/my-life-jo-farrell?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2014 14:35:40 +0000 CHILDOOD IDYLLS I grew up in Keynsham, a little town between Bristol and Bath, in the west of England. It was an idyllic childhood, in some ways. Very close to our house was a park with a river running through it. I remember seeing water voles and kingfishers and there was a little stone bridge next to a mill, which we used to walk on and play Poohsticks. The surrounding countryside was very beautiful; rolling English hills and little lanes to explore by bike. My father had an excellent... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1638113/my-life-bill-bailey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1638113/my-life-bill-bailey?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2014 12:48:36 +0000 ''When you think of Hong Kong, you don't imagine this sort of problem," says Scott Stiles, co-founder and general manager of the Fair Employment Agency, a new not-for-profit recruitment organisation for foreign domestic workers. The problem is debt bondage, a state in which employees - in this case foreign domestic workers or, as they are known colloquially in Hong Kong, helpers - are bound to their job or employer by debt. The United Nations refers to it as a form of "modern-day slavery". Many... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1568215/maid-pay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1568215/maid-pay?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Aug 2014 15:15:30 +0000 "I would not inflict this work on anyone else," says Sally Grace Bunker, a Hong Kong-based British botanical artist. "It's taking me six or seven hours a day, every day. And it's work that requires the utmost patience. Luckily, I have a lot of patience and I love detailed work." Bunker is mid-project, recording the indigenous and significant trees of Hong Kong. She is collaborating with Richard Saunders, professor of plant systematics and phylogenetics at the University of Hong Kong's School of... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1557441/tracing-roots?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1557441/tracing-roots?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jul 2014 15:15:30 +0000 This year, Sasha Haldane and her husband, Will Hayward, took one of the biggest decisions of their lives. They decided that, for the sake of their two children, they would leave Hong Kong. Haldane grew up in the city and, apart from a brief spell in Australia and New Zealand, had lived and worked here all her life. Max, 10, and Alyssa, six, were both born and raised in Hong Kong. Their parents had good jobs and the children were settled happily in schools. One factor alone compelled them to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1501490/bad-air-daze-air-pollution-and-our-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1501490/bad-air-daze-air-pollution-and-our-children?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 May 2014 15:15:00 +0000 There was a rash going round my son Tom's playgroup at the start of the year - not a physical rash but an unwelcome bout of biting. It started when one child clamped onto another's arm. After that, almost all of them chomped on each other at some point. Thankfully, Tom has not joined in. But I am worried that it's only a matter of time before he gets his gnashers out. Is this a phase all children go through? That hasn't been the experience of Lesley Pears, co-founder of educational playgroup... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1278022/rookie-mum-what-do-when-your-toddler-starts-biting-others?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1278022/rookie-mum-what-do-when-your-toddler-starts-biting-others?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Follow @SCMP_News All the expanding and stretching that takes place during pregnancy takes its toll on the skin, feet and back. At seven months, my bump is beginning to weigh me down, and aches and pains are emerging. According to my chiropractor Michelle Zhou, pregnancy affects the woman's body in many ways: "The growing bump places extra strain on muscles, ligaments of the spine and pelvis. Pain as a result of muscle spasm is a very common complaint among pregnant women, especially during... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1247449/heavenly-massage-expecting-mums?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1247449/heavenly-massage-expecting-mums?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 May 2013 16:00:00 +0000 If my husband and I disagree about something, we can usually compromise easily. But we've reached an impasse over baby names. Our second child is due this summer. It took no time at all to name our first, Tom; we agreed as soon as the scan revealed that he was a boy. This time we agreed on a boy's name before we even had a scan. But it turned out that we are expecting a girl, and now we cannot agree. Every time I suggest a name, he returns to the same one name that he likes. "It's OK, but it's... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1204715/not-your-nellie-perils-baby-naming-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1204715/not-your-nellie-perils-baby-naming-game?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Recently, we held a children's party, which was a great success. However, one person seemed a little less than enthralled by the event - my 18-month-old son, Tom. All of a sudden his house was full of other children, all of whom were playing with his toys. On top of this, his mother, who usually pays him plenty of attention, was busy chatting to them. His nose was very clearly out of joint. It became evident when a friend's daughter climbed onto my lap. Tom scrambled up next to her and tried to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1156158/rookie-mum-sibling-jealousy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1156158/rookie-mum-sibling-jealousy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 There is a lot of talk these days about that nebulous thing called work-life balance. In Hong Kong's culture of long working days, it's easy to fall off the tightrope and feel like you're doing neither very well. I am lucky enough to work part time. My husband, however, often leaves for work as our young son, Tom, gets up and is home well after he's in bed. But companies are increasingly aware of the importance of maintaining some balance, which is why my husband's employer, Barclay's, holds an... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1119822/rookie-mum-balloons-are-childs-eye-view-balanced?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1119822/rookie-mum-balloons-are-childs-eye-view-balanced?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 My little boy Tom has started to dance - well, if you can call it that. It's more bouncing up and down accompanied with a bit of arm waving and clapping, plus the occasional maniacal twirl. He started with bobbing up and down to our nursery rhyme DVD, progressed to dancing along to CDs and - best yet - started dancing along to the rock 'n' roll music an elderly gentleman plays on his radio in a Mui Wo public square every day. I'm keen to enrol Tom in some sort of music and dance class, so I... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1083957/dancing-helps-develop-childs-imagination?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1083957/dancing-helps-develop-childs-imagination?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 It wasn't until Sav Winslow left India that she really appreciated the culture of her native country and the large, bustling home in which she grew up. "I never thought I'd miss my roots like that; I missed the warmth, the congeniality, the people and the food," she says. She and her husband, Peter, met while working for express delivery company DHL in Delhi and set up home in the Indian capital. But when their eldest child, Josh, was born with Down's syndrome about 20 years ago, they relocated... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1078649/sav-winslows-home-cooked-vegetarian-indian-treats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1078649/sav-winslows-home-cooked-vegetarian-indian-treats?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 My toddler, Tom, runs across the room shrieking with delight, as I follow close behind saying in my most ominous voice: "I'm coming to getcha! I'm coming to getcha!" It's our newest game and he loves it, often collapsing in a fit of giggles. The other thing that has him in hysterics is me pretending to swallow a small plastic box that I keep in our bedroom, then spitting it back out. This sounds slightly revolting and a little insane, but Tom thinks it's the funniest thing ever. "Laughter is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1074645/gurgles-giggles-development-humour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1074645/gurgles-giggles-development-humour?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 My little boy, Tom, is a bad sleeper. We have had disrupted nights ever since he was born 14 months ago. Every time I manage to get him to sleep through the night and congratulate myself about it, sickness, teething or some mystery element strikes and turns my nights upside down again. Neither my husband nor I have slept through the night for well over a year now and we are feeling the toll. We are often tired and cranky. Both of us are naturally active and energetic people and would like to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1049489/rookie-mum-sleep-deprivation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1049489/rookie-mum-sleep-deprivation?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Feeding a toddler can sometimes feel like playing a game of Battleships. You sink one problem but then along comes another to blast you out of the water. Recently, I managed to get my 14-month-old son, Tom, to sit in his high chair for meals after a lengthy battle over him wanting to eat in front of the television. This turned out to be something of a pyrrhic victory. Just as I was celebrating my success, he struck me with a new weapon - hamster cheeks. Tom now sits happily in his high chair... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1036814/how-keep-your-toddler-happy-feeding-times?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1036814/how-keep-your-toddler-happy-feeding-times?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 My little boy, Tom, pulls at my leg and points excitedly at the sky, babbling frantically. "Ma dada baba duka duka duka!" he says. "Duka duka ba ba ba ba!" I look at him and ask, "What is it?" "Ba baba duka ka ka kaaa!" he says, barely able to contain his excitement. I gaze upwards in an attempt to decipher what this is all about. Then I spot it. There's a helicopter flying overhead. He loves helicopters. "Yes, Tom. A helicopter!" I say. I repeat it for good measure: "Good boy!... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1027024/rookie-mum-baby-babbling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1027024/rookie-mum-baby-babbling?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 I have a problem. It's a small, pink, female cartoon animal called Peppa Pig. For those of you who haven't met her, she's actually very sweet. Peppa lives with Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig and her little brother George. Her escapades are humorous and often educational. My one-year-old son, Tom, is obsessed with her. He has three words now: "oof oof" (for dog); "car" and "Peppa". Not "mummy", not "daddy". Worse still, "Peppa" gets by far the most use. I am ashamed to say it, but he only wants to eat his... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1017003/rookie-mum-battle-wills-one-year-old?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1017003/rookie-mum-battle-wills-one-year-old?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Ark Eden is about a 45-minute walk from the Mui Wo ferry pier. You'll pass village houses, vegetable plots, babbling streams, hanging vines and lianas, huge black spiders sitting on silver webs, frogs croaking under enormous leaves and village dogs ambling along happily with their tails in the air. It's so far removed from most of Hong Kong life that you might feel you've stepped into another country. What a place for schoolchildren - or anyone, really - to interact with nature. And that's... https://www.scmp.com/article/1007431/how-green-their-valley?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1007431/how-green-their-valley?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 I usually call my little boy, Tom, 'the tiddler'. However, he's acquiring a new nickname at the moment; it's more of a mouthful but appropriate nonetheless: the blond-haired terrorist. Why? Well, for starters he's blond, but more to the point, his latest habit is toy snatching. I know it's normal for babies to grab toys from other children, but when your normally well-behaved and placid toddler starts to grab the toys out of the very hands of other babes and sucklings, it's somewhat... https://www.scmp.com/article/1007432/how-tom-tiddler-became-toy-terrorist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1007432/how-tom-tiddler-became-toy-terrorist?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Holidays are a time to kick back, relax and put your feet up, to slip on the swimsuit, crack open a beer and chill out with your favourite book. Right? Maybe, if you were single, or even married with no family. But going on holiday with a baby requires meticulous planning and plenty of muscle power to carry all the extra stuff - hardly the makings of a relaxing experience. We've been on a few holidays with our baby Tom, and while I may not have fully grasped the recipe for success, I am... https://www.scmp.com/article/1006184/why-theres-no-place-home-holiday-season?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1006184/why-theres-no-place-home-holiday-season?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000 My little boy is now well and truly Oscar Mike. That's army speak for on-the-move. We got the phrase from the HBO series Generation Kill. When Tom goes crawling manically around our flat causing mayhem, my husband will often call out: 'He's Oscar Mike!' The follow-up is: 'Eyes on the target?' which is another military term. I jump to attention like a squaddie. This army lingo is fitting, as Tom leaves a trail of devastation in his wake: newspapers are shredded and strewn, toys spread to all... https://www.scmp.com/article/1004814/how-keep-your-toddler-safe-dangers-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1004814/how-keep-your-toddler-safe-dangers-home?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 I wish I were French. It's not the first time, either. I had the same strong urge when I was at university, struggling with when to use the hideously complicated French verb mood, the subjunctive. This time, however, it's because I've read the book French Children Don't Throw Food by Pamela Druckerman. An American living with her three small children in Paris, she outlines how French parents manoeuvre their babies into successful sleeping, eating and behaviour patterns. Meanwhile,... https://www.scmp.com/article/1003524/when-baby-finally-sleeps-through-night-its-time-french-toast?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1003524/when-baby-finally-sleeps-through-night-its-time-french-toast?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000 I've taken our baby, Tom, to a new playgroup. To say he loves it is an understatement. He's never been so vocal in all of his short life. 'What a responsive baby,' one woman says, which clearly translates to 'noisy little thing'. Half an hour later, the squeals are still coming thick and fast. 'He's enjoying himself,' says another mum, looking at me askance. This is code for 'I wish he'd be quiet'. We recently moved from Hong Kong Island to Mui Wo on Lantau. I'm a country girl at heart, and I... https://www.scmp.com/article/1002090/squeal-thing-how-little-stimulation-can-go-long-way?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1002090/squeal-thing-how-little-stimulation-can-go-long-way?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Since Tom's birth 10 months ago, we have been through an array of baby carriers. The search for the right one has consumed considerable time and energy. If you are mulling over this same problem, let me save you some drama and expense. We started with a sling. Other people swear by them, but we had limited success. It was June. The heat and humidity were high, and Tom lay scrunched up inside, hot and red-faced. I worried he was dehydrating. Hong Kong isn't an easy place to navigate with a push... https://www.scmp.com/article/1000850/plot-course-through-great-carrier-conundrum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1000850/plot-course-through-great-carrier-conundrum?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 It's 2am and my husband and I are both up. Tom, our nine -month-old baby, is crying inconsolably and has full-blown diarrhoea. We live five minutes' walk from a 24-hour clinic but I don't want to bother the doctor unless this really is an emergency. I turn to First-time Parent by Lucy Atkins - a great, no-nonsense parenting book listing when to seek medical attention. Her list includes vomiting with diarrhoea, refusing feeds for more than six hours and being excessively fussy or irritable.... https://www.scmp.com/article/999547/parental-checklist-when-seek-medical-attention-infants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/999547/parental-checklist-when-seek-medical-attention-infants?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000 I love swimming. One of the very first things I want to teach my son is how to swim. When the pool's open, I swim at least three times a week. Before my son was born, I was in our local pool for half an hour every day. I am convinced my birth was made easier by all the swimming I did over the whole nine months. I am very keen that my little boy, Tom, learn to swim at the earliest age possible. I am hoping he'll share my passion for water and water sports. But even if he doesn't, it's of the... https://www.scmp.com/article/996517/how-get-your-tiddler-swim-things?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/996517/how-get-your-tiddler-swim-things?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Everyone will remember the strapline from Jaws: 'Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water'. John Williams, who wrote the film score, described the dramatic theme music as being reminiscent of a shark: 'instinctual, relentless, unstoppable'. Recently, I've had that menacing tune swimming around my head. Not because of my shark phobia, but because my little boy is teething. His first tooth pushing up through his gums could also be described as 'instinctual, relentless,... https://www.scmp.com/article/995099/terrible-tooth-and-what-do-about-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/995099/terrible-tooth-and-what-do-about-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000 My husband and I have lined up the competitors, and we're marking them out of 10. 'Too big,' my hubby says. 'Too ugly,' I say. 'How about this one? It's medium-sized and very soft,' he offers, rubbing a blue corduroy elephant against his face. We're testing five teddies and two snuggly blankets. It's The X-Factor ... for soft toys. Nearly every child I have known has, at some point, had a comforter to help them sleep. When I was young, mine was a blanket. One of my brothers had a soft... https://www.scmp.com/article/993702/soft-option-help-me-make-it-through-night?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/993702/soft-option-help-me-make-it-through-night?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000 'Ooh, we didn't do that in our day.' The first time I heard this was when I returned to see my family in England with my two-month-old baby, and my mum - with eyebrows raised - had remarked at my son, nicely swaddled in his travel cot. Two weeks later, I heard it again, this time from my mother-in-law. Tom was all wrapped up in his baby's blanket, soporific and ready for bed. 'Ooh, we didn't do that in our day,' she said. A friend of mine was told that her swaddle looked like child cruelty,... https://www.scmp.com/article/992403/thats-wrap-baby-how-swaddling-makes-sleep-more-snug?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/992403/thats-wrap-baby-how-swaddling-makes-sleep-more-snug?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000 I am staring intently at a shelf full of well-known, brand-name products, wondering what to buy. I've been here before, deliberating between Diesel and 7 For All Mankind, Gap and Banana Republic. But now, thanks to being a new mum, the only contest I am really interested in is Huggies versus Pampers. Laugh you might, but Google it - there are pages and pages of debate on this subject. Anyone who's ever had to change a leaking diaper knows exactly what I am talking about. My sister-in-law once... https://www.scmp.com/article/991141/how-change-world-one-diaper-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/991141/how-change-world-one-diaper-time?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000 It's official - my brain has gone to mush. My vocabulary is shrinking and now all that my baby-addled brain is thinking about is mushed apple, mushed carrot, mushed banana and mushed courgette. You guessed it - we're weaning. I am sitting in bed on Sunday morning reading through Annabel Karmel's New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner. If you don't know her yet, it's only a matter of time. Karmel is the Goddess of Weaning; her book is the bible. 'What do you reckon? Apple or sweet potato?'... https://www.scmp.com/article/988950/when-pulp-friction-gets-too-much?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/988950/when-pulp-friction-gets-too-much?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000 All in a Day's Work is a memoir written by British social worker Becky Hope about her experiences over 20 years working in child protection in Britain. Hope is a pseudonym used to protect the children she has come across. And boy, do they need protecting. The book charts the plight of children who don't cry because they know no one will respond, and others who sleep under urine-soaked blankets and scavenge for food in bins. 'Rearing children is a full-on responsibility and society fails to... https://www.scmp.com/article/980078/all-days-work?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/980078/all-days-work?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:00:00 +0000 The sleep deprivation that accompanies a newborn baby is quite astonishing. Nothing short of special forces training can prepare you for it. Once new parents emerge blinking into the light a month or two after the birth, their priority is to regain some sleep and sanity. Even though I had read several childcare books, visited website forums and canvassed friends' opinions later, my six-week-old baby, Tom, was still not sleeping the three to four hours in the day he was supposed to - we were... https://www.scmp.com/article/978032/woman-their-dreams?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/978032/woman-their-dreams?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Cybex is a German company that designs children's car seats, pushchairs and baby carriers whose 'over-average safety and quality and unmistakable design join forces with intelligent functionality'. With an assertion like that, I expected its Callisto 3-in-1 system to be the BMW of baby transport systems. The Callisto comprises a wheeled frame to which you can attach a carrycot, car seat and buggy, making it usable from birth up to three years. Attaching the three different elements was fairly... https://www.scmp.com/article/977339/baby-carrier?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/977339/baby-carrier?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0000