Family Times’ feature articles cover a variety of hot topics related to family living and parenting. From health and education to parenting tips and tough-to-tackle subjects, we aim to bring you up-to-date, relevant, informative and interesting articles.
We’ve got lots of handy website links on a variety of subjects, celebrity comments, tips on taking great photographs and much more in our miscellaneous features section.
By using the Internet you can find out about entertainment and activities in your community. This is especially helpful for families with school-aged children who are soon to be on holiday. Directories www.babywebnz.org is a directory for New Zealand parents allowing them easy access to websites related to pregnancy, childbirth and parenting. To find information …
Wikipedia defines family traditions, also called family culture, as a combination of attitudes, ideas and ideals, and environment, which a person inherits from his/her parents and ancestors. Put simply, family traditions are the little (and sometimes big) things that glue a family together. When I was growing up, my sister and I always used …
Why not set aside some family time each week to play a traditional board game together? It may be a bit old-fashioned, and few parents these days have time to play games with the children after work, but you may be surprised by how much a family can gain by setting aside one evening a …
Becoming a mother can be like being on a roller-coaster, with many ups, downs and bumps along the way. Parenting provides little respite. Mums often discover time for themselves becomes lost in the unending responsibilities of parenthood. We find ourselves immersed in our numerous roles and many of us forget the importance of retaining our …
I think back to my childhood on a farm in Southland and realise how things have changed in such a short time. I was raised to know that carrots grew in all shapes and sizes. Today when I was shopping at the local supermarket I brought carrots that seemed too perfectly straight. I hope I …
The Internet is now the biggest worldwide information resource. There is so much information on it, the problem is how do you find what is relative to you as a parent or Childbirth Educator in New Zealand. When I first started using the web it took me ages to find what I wanted. Search for …
While we live in the North Island, my family is in Southland and my husband’s are in Wales, so in order to visit it has meant travelling. I have only had to do this with two children so I’m unsure how others cope with more. A friend told me she travelled back to UK with …
Adopt savvy supermarket shopping tips and you’ll save money. Members of Simple Savings, ‘The secrets to saving money in New Zealand’, sent in their money saving tips from all over the country to help like-minded people make the most out of their shopping. These tips are from what’s known as their savings vault, which has …
By Jody Johnston Pawel In all the years I have taught parenting classes, one skill has stood out as a four-star skill for gaining cooperation from children and preventing problems like power struggles and tantrums. I call it "Don’t say Don’t". Have you ever said to your child "Don’t go in the street!" and they …
Planning your child’s birthday party can be a lot of fun. If you are planning to celebrate your child’s next birthday party with a popular activity such as rock climbing or go karts, or going to Chipmunks or Fairy Land, that’s fantastic! If you are planning a backyard party with your child’s favourite theme, that …
