Puberty, what sense I can make of it!

February 1, 2012 By Rachael Bell Leave a Comment
boy girl

When my son asked me at what age could he expect a major growth spurt, I realised that I knew very little about puberty. So I thought I would do a little research, and just share a few of my findings. This information is taken from a variety of resources and I have generalised the information to give an overview, but it is important to recognise that we are all different and our children are too. The age purberty starts is getting younger in the Western World, currently girls can start puberty as early as 8, and for boys it is usually more like 10. Girls: Puberty normally takes place for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: all swell articles, babes & beyond, family life

Growing….

February 1, 2012 By Rachael Bell Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago it was my son's 9th birthday. Every year, on their birthdays, we measure our sons' heights. My eldest son Jamie looked on in horror to see that his brother was almost the same height as him, despite being almost 2 years younger. Jamie turned to me and asked me when he might have a growth spurt, desperate to think that he might edge ahead of his brother again. And so we sat down and did some research on 'growth spurts' which led us to a fuller discussion on 'puberty', and I have written a fuller article on what we discovered. On a personal level, it was a very interesting discussion … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Rachael, all swell articles, babes & beyond, family life, mamahood

The Mothering Myth

March 28, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

By Emma Green In our journey into the unknowns of mothering we discover many things about life, about ourselves, and about our own mothers. We learn things that are well-kept secrets in our society, where only the ‘good’ aspects of mothering are mentioned and the worst is not talked about, a conspiracy of silence, partial truths and omissions.  It is this conspiracy, I believe, that leads women to some kind of postnatal crisis. Only a new mother can understand the incredible frustration of the inconsolable, screaming infant who appears to be neither hungry, wet or in pain.  Only … [Read more...]

Filed Under: all swell articles, babes & beyond, family life, mamahood Tagged With: motherhood, mothering, new mothers, newborn, pnd, post natal distress, postnatal depression

Choosing schools from 12000 miles away…

March 14, 2011 By Rachael Bell Leave a Comment
school-sign

Today our house hit the market and it has brought the realisation home to me that we really are moving back to New Zealand. So I need to organise schools for my children. After some research on the internet I have discovered that my eldest will start Year 7 in January. So I have tried to do some research, I have read ERO reports, but nothing quite replaces the 'feel' of a place, the sense of whether my son will fit in, and what the Principal is like. But we have done our best to narow down the search, and so the next worry rises to the surface. We are moving to the country, moving to the middle … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Rachael, all swell articles, babes & beyond, family life, swell blogs Tagged With: childhood, children, parenting, schooling

To label or not to label?

March 6, 2011 By Rachael Bell Leave a Comment
autism_label_tshirt-

18 months ago my son’s school suggested that we may want to have him assessed. They felt that he was exhibiting behaviour that was concerning and that might need investigation. So off we went for an assessment, speech & language analysis and an observation at school.  Today we had our outcome. Or rather, today we had a long conversation with the paediatrician with no real outcome at all. It seems that my son is borderline Aspergers with Pragmatic Language Disorder. But then who’s labelling? Ultimately what we found out is that my son, actually, is happy. He has friends, he is achieving … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Rachael, all swell articles, babes & beyond, family life, swell blogs Tagged With: autism, children, family life, healthy, parenting
« Older Posts