Real life
Thanks for booze boot camp Mum, you always knew how to be prepared
Miss Australia, indecent proposals and chocolate eclairs for tradies - my mum taught me more about parenting, and life, than any book.
- by Kate Halfpenny
Latest
Opinion
Opinion
My wedding plan was perfection, then I turned my feet into two blocks of ice
My scheduling and Be Your Best strategy seemed to have paid off, before suddenly I realised it hadn’t.
- by Kate Halfpenny
Opinion
Social media
I’m trying to evolve my relationship with my smartphone to ‘friends with benefits’
A video of the New Year’s Eve countdown at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris shows a sea of phones. When midnight hits, no one hugs or kisses.
- by Gary Nunn
Opinion
Healthcare
My dad spent three weeks in ICU. This is what I learnt about our health system
I went into the hospital knowing nothing about our healthcare system. Those three weeks taught me life lessons that will never leave me.
- by Ruby Kraner-Tucci
Opinion
Coffee
I live in Brunswick East and drink flat whites. Now I’m engaged in a sordid affair
As a Melburnian, your coffee order signals a certain sense of taste. So what happens when you decide you’re not a flat white person anymore?
- by Bianca O'Neill
Opinion
University
Returning to uni at 36 has convinced me: This is no place for teenagers
Whether they’re getting high distinctions or failing it doesn’t make a difference. They’re all wasting their time, money, arrogance, self-belief and unlined skin.
- by Wendy Syfret
Opinion
Social media
Influencers are shining a light on public housing. But are they doing good or just gawking?
“This floor is the one with all the f---ing murderers,” one creator says, laughing.
- by Scobie Mckay
Opinion
Running
Want to take up running? You might be having an identity crisis
As much as we pretend it’s purely for health and wellbeing purposes, running in the modern age has become a performance in and of itself.
- by Brandon Jack
Opinion
Housing crisis
A family home doesn’t need to be a house: The case for European-style living
Moving overseas highlighted that our national psyche is to see houses not as places merely to live, but an asset class that, for many, is a way to grow wealth.
- by Caroline Zielinski
Opinion
Millennials
I thought not Googling everything would set me free. Instead, it ruined my garden
I’m not sure if having the answers would have saved my nasturtiums, but not knowing didn’t help me either. Somehow, my fantasy didn’t bring peace or protection.
- by Wendy Syfret
Opinion
Parenting
My son says he doesn’t want to have children. It’s not my job to convince him
Having a baby is the rare thing you can’t back out of. Tatts, vasectomies, vows, all reversible. Babies, not so much. What if you do it and realise it’s not for you?
- by Kate Halfpenny