Keep Up Weekly: Edward Scissorhands, neuro spiciness, and a new quick guide

I’m totally biased, but I believe I’ve stumbled across some awesome resources this week. I’ve even created a few of my own!

Let’s dive in.

1. Pop Culture Parenting, Episode 101: Edward Scissorhands & connection

I’m sure many of y’all will tell me I’ve been living under a rock, because I’ve only just discovered the Pop Culture Parenting Podcast. Holy smokes, it is AMAZING. 

This poddy is hosted by Dr Billy (a developmental paediatrician) and Nick (a developing parent) — “a couple of dads having honest discussions about parenting day to day”. Each episode, they use a pop culture moment to explore different elements of parenting, from resilience and attachment theory to courage and changing behaviour. 

I dove right in at episode 101 and was immediately entranced. True to the podcast description, they started the episode with some vulnerable banter, sharing parenting highs and lows from over the summer. They chuckled at moments they got wrong, celebrated moments they got right, and by extension, gave us listeners permission to do the same. 

This episode — Edward Scissorhands & connection — explores the importance of emotional connection and why it’s often missed. It busts some myths about boundaries, control, compliance, and other parenting ‘strategies’ that can get us all in a twist. 

I took so much away from this episode and feel armed with strategies to better connect with my kids, especially in moments they are struggling to emotionally regulate. I can’t wait to go back and listen to the entire back catalogue! 

2. We Don't Have Time For This: Mum Brain? Or Neuro Spicy?

Another podcast episode recommendation for you, and I’m sure it won’t be the last one from We Don’t Have Time For This. I stumbled across WDHTFT last year and I’ve been binge-listening the back catalogue ever since. It’s a witty, radically honest podcast hosted by two “besties since 1998, ride-or-die millennial mums with a lot of opinions and no time”. It might sound fluffy, but don’t be fooled! They cover hugely important topics — like this week’s episode about ADHD — in a fun and relatable way, and with a candour I really admire. 

In this ep, one of the hosts, Gemma, talks about her recent ADHD diagnosis. One rule the WDHTFT mums try to live by is never offering advice; just sharing personal experiences. I believe we can learn a lot from listening to other people’s personal journeys and Gemma generously shares a lot of insight into her ADHD brain in this episode — it’s a great listen if you want to better understand your neuro spicy loved ones, or yourself! 

3. The NZ Curriculum at a glance: A quick guide for busy parents

I’ve created a super condensed overview of the NZ Curriculum for you! The NZ Curriculum is a 117-page document, but this guide breaks it down into a simple overview of what it covers, how it works, and how it’s applied in schools.

When reading this, please remember I’m not a teacher or education expert — just a curious mum wanting to better understand what my kids are learning so I can support them along the way. If you’re an expert in this area, please reply to this email, as I’d love to ask you some questions.

4. First impressions of the NZ Curriculum (from a parent’s perspective)

I’ve also written a personal essay processing some of my initial thoughts about the NZ Curriculum, including how much it surprised, delighted, and also challenged me.

Here’s an excerpt: “When I express support for some of the values outlined in the NZ Curriculum, I’m often teased for being overly idealistic. But these very values are core features that inform one of New Zealand’s most important frameworks. This gives me hope, but it also feels fragile. Are these words on a page truly reflected in classrooms across the country?”

5. From RNZ: Teacher-only days continue

Look, I’m the first to admit I’ve definitely had a whinge about teacher-only days before (sorry, teachers). But I usually get over myself pretty quickly and choose to trust they are essential to my kids’ learning. Yes, they can be inconvenient for us parents juggling work schedules and other commitments — but then I remind myself how much teachers juggle every day and send them goodwill as I make my morning coffee. 

Whatever your thoughts on them, Education Minister Erica Stanford has confirmed there will be four teacher only days during term time this year, despite what David Seymour said in September.

She told RNZ: “The settings are such that we have to have them during term time. We're trying to keep them to an absolute minimum. But my message to parents is that during those times, those teachers are looking at the new curriculum.” 

I wish teachers didn’t have to defend themselves like this — and I also wish that there was more support, financial and practical, for working parents. Managing 12 weeks of school holidays + teacher only days on 4 weeks of annual leave and 10 sick days is expensive and challenging. The math isn’t mathing! 

6. A quick plea from my teacher bestie: Teach your little ones basic self-care routines before they start school 

When I asked my teacher bestie for a quick tip of the week, she came back with something super practical — and unapologetically honest! 

“Please teach your child basic self-care routines before starting school, like how to pack their bag and zip it up, how to put on their sandals/shoes, and how to put on their swimming togs.” 

She said parents often worry about their 5-year-olds academic abilities (or lack thereof), but that’s what a teacher is there for! And the more time a teacher spends helping kids keep track of their belongings, the less time they spend teaching. 

My youngest is starting school in August, so I found this tip really helpful. I have low faith in my ability to teach him how to read, but teaching him how to zip up his bag is totally something within my control. 

7. Barely keeping up: My parenting hiccups of the week 

One of my biggest fears about creating parenting content is coming across as preachy. I really want to create a community where we can openly share our stumbles, laugh/cry at how hard this is, and learn from each other! 

So, some of my parenting hiccups this week, in no particular order…

• My 7-year-old’s class performed in assembly last Friday (Valentine’s Day) and the teacher sent out multiple reminders to pack a pink T-Shirt. I straight up forgot. She ended up performing in her pink togs!
• I was on my phone in front of my 4-year-old and he straight up told me to stop looking at my phone because he was talking to me and I wasn’t listening. Ouch. 
• I’m not sure if this is a fail, or just straight up embarrassing, but I’m having to use a calculator to double-check a lot of my 7-year-old’s very basic division problems. 
• Last night, we let the kids watch television for an hour before bedtime, and then bedtime was the absolute pits. When will we learn?!

Please don’t leave a gal hanging; if you have any parenting hiccups, pop ‘em in the comments. 

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