It's 7:48 and shoes were due on feet at 7:45. I have asked, in my calmest Montessori voice, for shoes to go on. I ask again, slightly less Montessori. By the fourth round I'm doing a very convincing impression of a ship's foghorn, and my child looks up from the Lego, genuinely wounded, and says, "You didn't have to yell." I can tell you, it certainly felt like I had to yell... (yes, it happens to the best of us - I am not the Buddha yet.) If this happens in your house too, we

Have you ever wondered why your child can listen to the same story every single night for three weeks and then look at you, with complete sincerity, and ask for it again? You are sitting there thinking, surely there are other books in this house. There are, in fact, approximately 147 other books in this house. But apparently The Gruffalo is the one we are emotionally committed to.... There is a reason your child loves reading the same book again and again Humans have been tel

If you’ve recently moved to Zurich, or have been living here for a while now, and heard someone say “Knabenschiessen” (which roughly translates into "boys shooting") and thought, Sorry… what exactly are we shooting here? - welcome to Zurich:) Today is Knabenschiessen, one of Zurich’s biggest annual public celebrations, and if you have children, it is one local tradition you’ll definitely want on your radar. And yes, despite the slightly alarming name, nobody is shooting chil

Tell me if this has ever happened to you. You're in the supermarket. Your child wants the yoghurt with the cartoon dinosaur on it. Unfortunately, you have already bought three yoghurts at home and are trying to maintain the illusion that you are an adult who makes sensible financial decisions. So you say the fateful words. "Not today." And suddenly, your sweet, cherub-faced child transforms into a tiny, enraged Viking. The face reddens. The eyebrows descend. There is a screec