‘I want it and I want it now! – Corinne Sweet – The Independent Review – Monday 6, January 2003 – We all want our children to have the best in life. But if we can’t learn to say ‘no’ to them, are we really doing them any favours? CORINNE SWEET argues the need for firm but fair boundaries.

I confess. I can find it hard to say “no” to my six-year-old, especially when she throws me a winsome smile with an eyelash fluttering; “Pleeese.” Indeed, my dear mother-in-law chortled at my writing this article, as she has seen me skirt round the dreaded N-word on...

Is stricter really better? – Corinne Sweet – The Independent Review Monday 14 April 2003 – Discipline is a dirty word to many of today’s baby-boomer parents. So are we raising a generation of antisocial slackers? Far from it, argues CORINNE SWEET

I’m a slack mum, I’ll confess. My “spit spot” friends have their kids fed, bathed, storied and tucked up by 7.30 every night. Meanwhile, my six-year-old daughter might be prancing round the living room like a pop star, or lapping milk from a bowl like a cat until we...

Life (with a baby) can begin at 40 – Corinne Sweet Independent, 2001 – Should women fear having babies in their forties? Is it unfair on the child? Corinne Sweet, who became a first-time mother at 43, explains why the myths of late motherhood need to be challenged

I never wanted children, so I went to the doctor at 21 and asked to be sterilised. She briskly sent me away to “think about it”, and life took over. Thank goodness I never went back, because, at the age of 43, I had my one and only, wonderful child. Something I thank...