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The first 1,000 days of life shape every day that follows.
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A beat by Irene Caselli
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Lessons from a ‘no-go’ neighbourhood
Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is a tidy, green city, with wide boulevards and neoclassical architecture in the city centre and socialist apartment buildings in the outskirts. In autumn, the air pollution becomes bad because the city is enclosed by mountains, but overall Sofia is
Forever in the archive
Why play is not just for kids
“Sometimes I feel so boring,” said a woman I had just met on the beach. We were watching our respective young children running on the beach, screeching in excitement about the goals they scored and bouncing quickly from one game to another. I get it:
Thou shalt not judge…
Another day, another internet mob. This time, it’s because of a baby at a Taylor Swift concert. At first glance, it’s just another cute photo that’s popped up in your feed. A baby, bathed in a soft purple glow, seems to be fast asleep. Her head
How should media cover children in conflict?
It is a haunting image: a woman dressed in blue, her head covered, holding a child’s body covered in a white sheet. The photograph is by Palestinian photographer Mohammed Salem, who works with Reuters. It was taken on Oct. 17, 2023, and won the World
Why women can have it all
“You can’t have it all.” That’s something I’ve heard over and over again. I can hear one of my best friends saying it to me, almost scoldingly, when we were in high school and I wanted to study yet another language, and swim, and travel,
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
Who cares for the caregivers?
There are stories that keep me up at night, that I get obsessed with and scheme away until I find a way to go out there and report on them. One theme that has been very much on my mind is what happens when those
Lice and life lessons
It is Sunday. We have just successfully pulled off a birthday celebration in the park for my son Lorenzo, who turned five. The sun shone during an otherwise rainy week, my sugar-free banana bread turned out moist and yummy, and the bottle of Prosecco I
A war on children
Since October, I have been writing an essay about Gaza. About the children, the pregnant women, about how the world is failing thousands of children every day. None of my words make sense. I am stuck. Unlike in the past, where the urgency of writing
So long 2023, year of burnout
About eight months ago, my physical exhaustion and mental deterioration had become so intense that I did something I’d never done before: I lied to an editor about why I couldn’t make a deadline. You know that kind of old-school excuse like “my cat died”?
I’d love to meet you in person
León, my youngest son, has started walking. For weeks, he had been trying to do it. If you’ve never seen a baby learning to walk, I highly recommend you do. As Nacho, my partner, rightly pointed out in his own newsletter (which comes highly recommended!), there
Forever in the archive:
How to turn chores into fun moments
I often catch myself feeling guilty when it comes to my children. Whenever I feel bored, unwilling to play, or I’m incapable of transforming a hint of a meltdown into an opportunity to have fun, I have to remember to try to be kind to
A plane carrying birth tourists, and a journalist’s instinct
We are travelling back from Argentina as a whole family after a few weeks on the road. First, I was in Colombia at the World Conference of Science Journalists to moderate a panel on why the youngest children should be on every journalist’s radar. There were
Who we become when we adult and settle down
I am telling Lorenzo a story, and León is paying attention too: it is about one of the ginger cats in the house we’re staying in. Her name is Luna, and in a previous life, several years ago, she was my kitten. We are in
The art of fragments
I am craving a normal office day. A day when you get out of the house, leave everything and everyone behind, get immersed in your work, and emerge on the other side having done your best to finish what you said you would do. Instead,
How to change childcare in one of the largest countries in the world
I am still in Argentina with my family, juggling too much for my own good. Reading, listening and watching tips will be back in early May, once I am settled back at home. Since launching the first 1,000 days, first as a journalism beat then
Should you vacation without your kids?
I am taking a break from the newsletter next week because I will be seeing family in Argentina for the first time in three years! See you on April 20! There is a story that my mother has repeated so many times that it is
No country for young children
Italy’s population is declining rapidly. The country is far from unique — the same issue is being faced by many others, including Japan, South Korea and Spain. Every year, the latest data is accompanied by alarmist headlines announcing the end of Italy. Elon Musk even
Why is it still taboo for parents to sleep with newborns?
Any new parent will gladly talk to you about sleep — usually about their lack of it — but also about how their baby is sleeping (or not). They are much less likely to talk about whether or not they sleep with their child. The
Caregivers receive bad advice on bedsharing
This newsletter touches on SIDS. If you have been affected by it, you may want to skip this newsletter and head to this page instead. It is the elephant in the room in many conversations I have with mothers who breastfeed: how do you sleep when
Gaining a child, losing myself
It was past midnight when I got a message from a friend: “I hope you’re sleeping.” I was not. Between 9 p.m. and midnight, I had held León on my lap as I tried to finish up some work, hoping he would finally fall asleep.
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