The Juggling Act

Today's guest is the internationally bestselling author of 12 books which have sold over 750,000 copies globally.  On top of that, Joanne Fedler’s book Things Without A Name has been optioned for the big screen! Super impressive. She has a new book out called Unbecoming - a hilarious but heartbreaking look at what happens to women when their identities have been defined by motherhood and marriage. She opens up about how to find yourself again and experiencing that same loss of identity when your children are ready to leave home.  

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Today's guest had an impressive AFL career with Collingwood and Carlton, before retiring at the end of last year, and now he's taken on a project his school teachers would be shocked by! Solo dad Dale ‘Daisy’ Thomas can now be found enthusiastically singing along to Frozen with his daughter, Tilly and writing children’s stories about toilet training. He saved all his best dad / toilet jokes for us, cause really, you can never have poo much of a good thing...  

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Today's guest is a country girl at heart… she lives with her husband and nine-year-old daughter Molly-Rose on a hobby farm in Ballarat - when she’s not hosting The Project or blowing people away with her incredible voice on The Masked Singer. Gorgi Coghlan has now signed on for a national challenge called ‘Water Night’ on October 22. She opens up about the judgement around only having one child, the secret to her career confidence and why she wants everyone to turn off their taps for one night.  

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I was a total bookworm growing up – my mum would find me curled up in some hidden spot in the sun reading for hours and hours – and I want to instil that love of books in my kids. Today's guest is also passionate about books, having written a few himself! Rove McManus is dad to daughter Ruby with his wife Tasma Walton, and while he made his name on the small screen and the comedy circuit, its drawing and writing that have always been his passion. He’s now working with Spotlight to support Book Week this week, and joins us to chat about homeschooling, book week costume shortcuts and his favourite character to voice (would not have picked this one...)  

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Ah Covid, it's had us doing some unusual things (homeschooling, we're looking at you). One of the things Sarah has turned to is cutting her kid's hair at home. It's kinda cute right? Even if you butcher it? $30 can be a lot to fork out for something that takes 2 minutes and you have to do again in 6 weeks time. Or, is it cruel to have your kids getting around looking like they've been attacked by Edward Scissorhands?   

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This week, Sarah and Mel discuss what age you should leave a child for a playdate with a family you don't know. It’s a complicated one… We meet the woman who is saving the mental health of Melburnians, while nutritionist Shelley Judge joins us to chat about dealing with school lunchbox envy and why kids need to constantly snack… (never ends!). Author Naomi Lambert has written a book on how to teach kids about being kind to themselves and others and Mel talks about how her daughter is unintentionally body-shaming her and how to handle comments from your kids about your body.  

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Ah little girls, they keep us on our toes! My 8 year-old is now becoming much more aware of her appearance and those around her - ie. me. She makes comments about my body that can be unintentionally hurtful, and while I don't react because I want her to know that every body is different and amazing, it does sometimes get to me! So how do we create a positive body image for our children and how should we react when they comment on our bodies?   

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Teaching kids to be kind can sometimes feel like pushing water up a hill - like you’re never getting anywhere. By design, they’re narcissistic little things and sometimes our messaging must be pretty confusing – so that kid took a toy offyou,well you need to share!If someone snatched my wine off me as an adult – LOOK OUT. Well, author Naomi Lambert is trying to make it a little bit easier for parents, with the release of her children’s book One Kind Day – which shows children the different ways they can be kinder to each other, and themselves.  

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We are into the FINAL term of school – whoop! And that means only a few more weeks left of trying to get creative with school lunchboxes. Most parents have shortcuts, I make two days worth of sandwiches each day and freeze the other one, it’s just a little thing but it does help that second morning. It can be hard to stay motivated with lunches AND find something that they eat, especially when you're rushing out the door (or to your home desk) for work. So I turned to nutritionist and founder of Shelley's Good Eats, Shelley Judge, for some inspiration and to find out how to deal with lunchbox envy.  

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Mental health has been a big topic since Covid hit, especially in Melbourne who have endured two long periods of lockdown. Erika Cramer, is an international confidence coach known as The Queen of Confidence. She’s based in Melbourne with her husband and two sons, and has been changing the lives of women who have turned to her for help. She shares some of the incredible stories of survival with us.  

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