Family

Advice, tips and lifetsyle features aimed at parents, children and families.

The five corona crisis moments we’ve all been through

During lockdown, our emotions are on a roller coaster, there’s no two ways about it.

And while some days we’ll be feeling quite balanced, following a routine and getting things done, there are likely to be ‘corona crisis’ moments where we find our emotions flip like a switch.

Suddenly, there’s anger or upset, tears of frustration, or just plain anguish that something is not...

What is the best way to make healthy meals the whole family will enjoy?

Like many parents, I’ve got to feed the rest of my family as well as my baby. What’s the easiest way to make healthy food they’ll all eat?

Mum-of-three Rachel Boyett, author of Little Veggie Eats, says: “Cooking meals for all the family to eat is the easiest way to get the whole family eating healthy food. It saves you cooking twice, and it helps to signal to your baby that this is...

Family life as Carrie Symonds and Boris Johnson welcome new baby

As Carrie Symonds welcomes son, how to manage the first days as a mum in lockdown

The first few days as a new parent are always a huge shift – to say the least! And during lockdown, things are even stranger, as the normal routine of visitors is flipped on its head.

That’s the situation now for Carrie Symonds, partner of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who gave birth to a baby boy on April 29. The baby arrived just a few days after Johnson returned to work...

The emotional toll lockdown is taking on grandparents

For many people, one of the hardest parts of the coronavirus lockdown has been not being able to see family – and that’s been especially difficult for grandparents, who often live alone and depend on close family contact.

Some grandparents have taken extreme measures just to have physical contact with their grandchildren – a Californian grandmother and grandfather were so desperate...

Seven reasons why rainy days in lockdown can be a good thing

The weather has the power to change our mood – from joy-inducing sunshine, to the thrill of opening the curtains to snow on a winter’s day.

That is not so much the case with rain, which can turn our plans upside down, and leave us housebound when we wanted to be outdoors. This is especially true during lockdown, when time outside is so very precious.

Suddenly garden time,...

Portrait of worried young woman feeling stressed and desperate asking for help in paying debt

Six financial fears affecting us all right now and how to deal with them

With many of us experiencing income shocks right now, our money worries have, understandably, escalated.

Nearly a third of people in the UK have already seen their household incomes hit by the coronavirus pandemic, consulting company Kantar recently found, while a separate survey from Hargreaves Lansdown revealed a quarter (26%) of people in full-time work are worried about losing...

As Prince Louis turns two, some top tips for celebrating a birthday in lockdown

Telling a child they won’t be able to see their friends and family on their birthday can feel like one of the more devastating parts of being a parent in lockdown.

Despite knowing you’re doing the right thing by staying home, it’s hard not to feel like you’ve let them down, especially if you’ve had to cancel elaborate birthday plans that have been months in the making.

It’s...

Parent and child spending family time home schooling.

Home learning best practice advice for parents

Under normal circumstances, today would be the beginning of the Summer Term. Now, however, thousands of children across the UK will return to home-schooling instead, since schools have been shut officially since the 20th March. Many parents elected to take a break from lessons and observe the Easter Holiday; however, now parents and their kids must pick up their pencils again to carry on with...

How to make family video conferencing during lockdown more fun. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Ten ways to make family video calls more fun

Video calls are helping millions of families stay connected right now – but with daily life deep in Groundhog Day mode for many of us, it’s easy to run out of things to talk about.

Switching it up with some good, old-fashioned organised challenges can boost the amusement factor – and give you all something to talk about that isn’t just what you had for lunch.

Want some new...

Coleen Nolan, Loose Women presenter on family.

Coleen Nolan on how to make blended families work

Parenting is tough at the best of times, but it can be even harder when you’re trying to blend two families, as Loose Women’s Coleen Nolan found out during her second marriage.

Nolan shares her 19-year-old daughter Ciara with ex-husband Ray Fensome, who she was divorced from in 2018, and sons Shane, 31, and Jake, 27, from her marriage to Shane Richie, which came to an end in 1997....

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