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Category Archives: Motherhood

Mummies and Daddies

March 8, 2010 – 11:47 am

I was interested to read today that a woman has failed in her legal bid to stop her former partner from encouraging their six-year-old daughter to call his new partner “Mummy D”. Unfortunately the judgment doesn’t seem to be available online yet.
[The mother] said encouraging the term of endearment was ”an incendiary action” by her [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Law, Marriage | Tagged , , , , | Comments (9)

Chained to the kitchen sink…

February 15, 2010 – 1:30 pm

Via Larvatus Prodeo, I became aware of KRudd’s latest gem – a PhD is an “excuse for not having kids”. (What is it with the political leaders in our country at the moment?)
Nina Funnell, a thirty something researcher, attended a function where Kevin Rudd spoke on an ageing population. Her story follows:
I was at a [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Feminism, Public Policy, Society | Tagged , , , , | Comments (99)

Spare the rod, spoil the child?

October 21, 2009 – 9:29 am

It is not long ago since our society believed that hitting a child to discipline her was necessary. When I was in very early primary school we still worried about “getting the strap”, although I think corporal punishment had been outlawed by then, but there was still a collective consciousness of “the strap” and what [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Law, Public Policy, Society | Tagged , , , , | Comments (21)

Judging potential judges

May 13, 2009 – 2:10 pm

Justice Souter of the US Supreme Court is about to retire, and President Obama must appoint a successor. As soon as Souter J announced his retiremet, the speculation started:
President Barack Obama pledged Friday to name a Supreme Court justice who combines “empathy and understanding” with an impeccable legal background to succeed liberal David Souter, whose [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Feminism, Law | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Life imitates fiction

April 25, 2009 – 12:43 pm

My daughter has red-gold curls, and a temper to match the hair colour. I was driving home the other day when she started to throw a tantrum in the back of the car. I really wished there was some kind of “cone of silence” which I could impose on her, so that I could still [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Fark!, Law | Tagged , , , , | Comments (19)

Blue

April 12, 2009 – 5:48 pm

This Garfield cartoon pretty much sums it up for me right now (it’s always been one of my favourites).
I’ve said before, “Sometimes I feel like I’m juggling multiple balls and if I don’t watch out, I’ll drop them all.” I think I’ve reached the point where I’ve dropped the balls. I had a plan this [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Children, Depression, Feminism | Comments (51)

WTF – career counselling for toddlers?

April 8, 2009 – 12:30 pm

The other day, I was talking with a kinder Dad who is a fellow lawyer. My daughter piped up, “Mummy is a Big Lawyer and I will be a Little Lawyer when I grow up.” The Dad and I exchanged looks, as I ruefully grimaced. “I’d really rather she didn’t become a lawyer,” I confessed. [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Education, Personal | Tagged , , | Comments (30)

Wisdom of a child

April 6, 2009 – 10:36 pm

Conversation between my husband and my three-year-old daughter tonight:
Miss 3: Mu-u-u-u-u-ummy…?
Daddy: She’s gone to the moon.
Miss 3: No. She’s not. She’s on the Internet.
Daddy (asking just to see what the answer is): What’s the Internet?
Miss 3: It helps us. It has words and stuff. It helps us see with pictures and things.

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Internet | Comments (5)

Disappointing Dora

March 16, 2009 – 9:44 pm

Before you have kids, if you are anything like me, you have this idea that you won’t let them get sucked into consuming various television shows, junk food, brand names and etc. Then reality hits as your 2 year old points at an ad in the supermarket carpark and says, “Dere’s Wiggles, Mummy!” Children are [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Education, Feminism, Media, Popular culture | Tagged , , | Comments (44)

Right to a child versus rights of a child

March 6, 2009 – 6:10 am

Over at Saint’s place, Saint and I have become involved in a discussion about legally sanctioned relationships and children. A commenter at Saint’s site, Paul, raised the recent example of a US case where a couple wanted to use their dead son’s sperm to get a grandchild:
The New York state appeals panel issued a unanimous [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Law | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (91)