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The first 1,000 days of life shape every day that follows.
We need to know more about them.
A beat by Irene Caselli
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Bye bye breastfeeding, a special phase of motherhood
A work trip recently pushed me (or maybe helped me) to accelerate an otherwise difficult decision: to stop breastfeeding León, who is now a year and a half. It wasn’t easy to decide to travel alone for the first time ever, and to do so
Forever in the archive
Everybody was a child once. Remember that when they turn into your political foes (or worse)
The boy was two years old when his mother disappeared from his life. Struggling to recover from the birth of a younger son, she constantly went in and out of hospital. Without her, the boy relied on his eldest sister, 12 at the time, who
So, what if you find play boring?
It’s time to lay it all out, folks. I will confess: sometimes, when my son Lorenzo picks up his copy of The Gruffalo to hear me read it out loud while he plays with the animals that appear in it (he owns a stuffed toy
My one-year review of myself
Let me tell you a secret about a rather useless skill I have: I have an incredible memory for people’s birthdays! You tell me the date, and somehow it just sticks to my internal hard drive. This includes people I haven’t seen since middle school.
Greek cicadas and children: a lesson on listening
Tzitzitzitzitzitzi Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi The continuous sound of cicadas invades my ears. It goes on and on. All day long. And even at night, when the full moon tricks the cicadas into thinking it’s daylight. In Greek a cicada is called tzitzikas
Lost in motherhood
I’m just back from my two-week staycation, during which I ate well, tried to exercise regularly, and dreamt a lot. One night I dreamt that I was at a work meeting. We were in an outside space where everyone was chit-chatting. All of a sudden,
Sometimes when you lose a person, you get lost too
The truth of today’s newsletter is that I was writing about someone dear to me who died last month. But then I stopped because life got in the way. First, the Beirut blast. For a month now, my family and I have been living in
Due to patriarchy …
This week, I’m exhausted. I could blame it on the summer heat, or on my son’s sleepless night because he’s teething. But that is not the kind of structural thinking that I’ve been encouraged to do here at The Correspondent. As our founder Rob Wijnberg
Why do we decide to have, or not have, children?
In a time that now seems incredibly far away, a time that my colleague OluTimehin Adegbeye calls 2020 BC (before corona), I co-hosted a meet-up with members of The Correspondent in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was February, and little did I know that it would be
Human milk is amazing. I’m on a mission to find out more about it
I’m writing this in my head as I breastfeed my son to sleep – hoping that I will remember these words once I’m done. Breastfeeding has become a part of my everyday life since Lorenzo was born 17 months ago. It has caused pain, insecurity, frustration,
Human milk is the first intelligent superfood. We need to know the science of this medicinal marvel
From added insulation on cold days to extra antibodies during illness, breast milk is customised for every baby. If science will just tell us how, we could argue less about formula and breast pumps.
Forever in the archive:
If you look, you see the first 1,000 days everywhere
I’ve been thinking a lot about food these days. Food in liquid form, such as breast milk, the magic potion our bodies create to feed our children, but also food in a figurative sense; the hugs, love and overall nurture babies need at the beginning
Ruminations on the fragility of life
This week my son Lorenzo fell while bouncing around in the park. He was holding a tiny stick, which ended up poking him just above the eyelid. It was a miracle he didn’t scratch his cornea or poke his eye out. But was it a
A self-identified superwoman praises other superwomen (and some other superpeople)
One of the warmest things I’ve witnessed online this past week is the conversation going on below Othering correspondent OluTimehin Adegbeye’s beautiful newsletter in which she asked members: Who are you? The idea is to be able to describe yourself without mentioning your job, nationality or
This is not the tragic death of a black boy. It is structural racism
I keep playing the scenes over in my head. First scene: a black boy is inside a lift and a white woman stands outside, talking to the boy before seemingly pressing a button. The doors close, the boy presses more buttons and remains alone, with
Meet the parenting expert who thinks parenting is a terrible invention
There’s no shortage of books, magazines and websites offering parenting advice. But the idea that parents can turn children into better and more successful adults if only they use the right methods is completely misguided, says developmental psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik. Children behave in mysterious
Welcome to the magical land of home
Last week the peace and quiet of my parents’ well-curated rooftop terrace, which includes a collection of cacti they picked up all over the Americas and repotted here in Naples, was disturbed by workers refurbishing the building next door. My parents were horrified as the
Understanding this will help you fight less with your kids at home
Now that we spend more time than ever under the same roof as our children, understanding how they play will help you look at your home differently – and maybe fight a little less too.
I’m still breastfeeding – and it shouldn’t be your business. But if you make it your business, these are the things you should know about it
A premise: I know that breastfeeding is a divisive issue. Even though I’m a big fan and I write about early childhood, I haven’t written much about it because I don’t like conflict (Eirene was the Greek goddess of peace – and I’m named after her),
Why should young people be involved in politics? Kids, the floor is yours …
In last week’s newsletter, I told you about the international chat we had organised about why politicians should listen to kids. This came off the back of my latest article, in which I wrote about how important it is for politicians to involve children in politics.
Young people are reckless and question everything. Which is exactly why they deserve a place in politics
The teenagers of Naples are making out on the rocks by the sea, as the afternoon sun sparkles on the water. They hug and kiss hello and make jokes about having to wash their hands or else they may die. Many don’t wear face masks
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