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The first 1,000 days of life shape every day that follows.
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Childhood is political. The decisions about who has a child, when, and how go far beyond personal choices. Authoritarian and populist politicians the world over are despairing over falling birth rates. They are trying (and often succeeding) to set strict rules about conception and birth

We started reading your articles around November 2019 when I was just pregnant with our first and feeling incredibly overwhelmed with the task ahead of us - your articles really helped in feeling OK with not always knowing what to do, and knowing that we were not the only ones!

I never reply to a general newsletter email! But yours was/is very special and too difficult to not respond to. You write in such a unique way which feels very personal and genuine, this I wanted to let you know. I am so looking forward to reading more of your writings. It is very intriguing for me as a mother and especially as a mother raising my daughter in a foreign context.

I am so grateful for Irene Caselli's work in The First 1,000 Days. Not only has it made me a better parent, I feel a deeper sense of empathy for myself and others as I better understand where we're all coming from.

I’d love to meet you in person

09/14/2023 1 Comment

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

My breaking point

06/08/2023 7 Comments

Recently I’ve been worried about fainting because of overwork and stress. Many people have told me to slow down, but I’ve never been one to slow down. In the face of stress and overwork, I stress more and work harder. But the body can only take

How to turn chores into fun moments

05/25/2023 No Comments

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

05/18/2023 No Comments

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

05/15/2023 No Comments

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

05/04/2023 1 Comment

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

04/20/2023 No Comments

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?

04/05/2023 No Comments

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

03/30/2023 No Comments

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?

03/23/2023 No Comments

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

Gaining a child, losing myself

03/09/2023 1 Comment

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.

Finally parents can say screw being tidy

03/02/2023 No Comments

You may have seen the headline: tidying up guru Marie Kondo has announced that she has “kind of given up on tidying”. “Marie Kondo’s life is messier now — and she’s fine with it” titled The Washington Post piece that ran the scoop. Other newspapers spoke of

Daycares are big business

02/23/2023 5 Comments

Last week I sent a link to a survey, asking you to help shape this newsletter. It takes just between 5 and 10 minutes to complete, and I will add your name to a prize draw if you answer by 3 March. You can find the

Help shape early childhood journalism

02/16/2023 No Comments

You might have seen that last month a huge campaign was launched in the UK by Kate Middleton to raise awareness of the importance of early childhood development. It aims to make early childhood development “one of the most strategically important topics of our time”.

The real reasons screens are babysitting our kids

02/09/2023 4 Comments

You would have to be living in a cave these days not to have heard of CoComelon, El Reino Infantil, A Galinha Pintadinha or Il Pulcino Pio, depending on what your language of choice is. These YouTube shows for kids are everywhere: you hear the

Why your birthing experience matters

01/26/2023 No Comments

This story talks about obstetric violence and infant death. If this is too much for you, please skip it. There is no collection of helpful resources that I have found, but feel free to reach out and I may be able to help you find

This newsletter turns two — thanks to you!

01/12/2023 4 Comments

Happy 2023, dear reader, and thanks for your continued support. A special thanks to those who sent a one-off donation via Paypal (you can still do so here) and to those who picked up a membership here. Also an apology: this newsletter was supposed to go out

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