Ever since his daughter Emma was in primary school, W. Garth Callaghan would jot down inspirational quotes and bits of dad wisdom onto napkins and slip the notes into her lunchbox. It became their special thing, their way to connect. He wanted to make sure Emma could read a note from her father every single school day until graduation — even if he was no longer around to write them.

You may have tried chore charts. Perhaps you’ve turned the task of tidying up into a game. Maybe you’ve offered pocket money or attempted strict routines or belted out the “Clean Up Song” 27 times in a row (hey, it miraculously works when your kid’s teacher sings it, right?).

As I prepare for life with a new baby, I’ve been hearing a lot of advice on how to help my five-year-old daughter Maggie transition into her role of a big sister, a title she isn’t entirely thrilled about.

“Read her some big sibling books,” people say. (Done.) “Let her help out.” (Definitely.) “Get her a gift ‘from the baby’.” (OK, though I’m pretty sure she understands that a fetus has not had time to rake in currency in the womb.)

Board games teach kids about rules, sportsmanship and strategy. Children love games, and more than likely, you, their parents, will be playing a lot of these games with them. Why not try the ones that are fun for adults as well? Here are some games that take the boring out of child’s play, for every age.

New parenthood is an isolating experience. You aren’t simply adding a new piece to the puzzle of your life — instead, it feels as though this tiny person has shaken up all the existing pieces that you had spent decades fitting together, and now you must start again from scratch. You’re tired, lost, and smell a little funky. It’s hard to remember that others have been there, too.

Lisa Ling is the host of the CNN investigative docuseries This is Life with Lisa Ling. In season five, which premiered this weekend, she travels across America to explore topics such as gender fluidity, screen addiction, custody battles and furries.

When she isn’t on the road, she’s home in LA with her husband and two daughters, Jett and Ray. I spoke with her about how she parents.

Have you ever seen a parent in deep discussion with a toddler over an LCM bar? They’re patiently explaining the risk of tooth decay, the importance of a balanced diet, and the timing of dinner. Right there in the middle of the grocery aisle.

I’ve spent the past year interviewing men about their experiences as fathers, and one question consistently looms large for almost every dad. How can a man pass on the good lessons his father taught him, and also improve on the areas where his father came up short?

And what if his father came up way short, leaving little or no template for how to be a good man, stay emotionally engaged, and raise kids who feel loved by their mother and their father? It isn’t always an easy task.

Today is Friday. Contrary to the teeny-bopper warbling of Rebecca Black, you do not need to get down tonight (or up, or sideways). Instead, your plan should involve precisely nothing - especially if you have children.

What tears couples apart isn’t always the Big Things. Often, it’s the everyday things, the stuff that you feel like you should be able to brush off, but trying to do so only makes you angrier, and so you brew resentment in silence until one early morning when some unrelated annoyance makes you explode with the words “YOU ALWAYS FORGET TO THROW AWAY THE PACKAGING AND WHY DO I HAVE TO DO IT FOR YOU, I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER!”

Um, anyone else been there?

When it comes to money conversations with your family, a child asking a parent for financial support can be awkward, but expected. Flip the script, however, and it can be a fraught discussion.

There’s a problem in the city. A dump truck has dropped her bin full of bowling balls all over the street without realising it — the balls that were supposed to be delivered to the bowling alley. Stinky, a garbage truck, and Dirty, a backhoe loader, see it happen and decide they will get the balls to the destination themselves. But how?

When I read the statistic from a University of Maryland study that children between the ages of six and twelve spend only 24 minutes a day doing housework, a 25 per cent decline from 1981, my first thought was, "Where the heck are these kids finding 24 minutes?!"

Much has been written about the importance of the family meal. There's something about setting aside time every day, away from the distractions of work to-dos and house chores and Instagram notifications, to connect over food with your clan. Kids who grow up with the ritual will be fundamentally different from those who don't — science backs this up.

In her new memoir Now My Heart Is Full, Laura June writes about how becoming a parent has helped her make peace with the memory of her own mother, her mother’s alcoholism, and their difficult relationship. Here, she talks about life with her daughter Zelda, from her belief that babies sometimes need to be left alone to the way motherhood has made her more creative than ever.

Parents who share a Netflix account with their families know the distinct pain. After putting your kids to bed, you sit down to watch a sexy new drama (or for me, The Great British Bake Off), and up pops on your TV screen: “Because you watched Lalaloopsy: A Sew Magical Tale, here’s Luna Petunia, My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake!” Your shows! What happened to all your shows?!

On Slate's parenting podcast "Mum and Dad Are Fighting", the hosts debated a tough question: After a divorce, should you spend time together as a family if a child requests it?

A few years ago, when my husband came home from the store with a bottle of sunscreen for our toddler, I had a mild panic attack.

Dear Lifehacker, I consider myself a pretty organised person. The rest of my family? Not so much. It's not that we're totally out of control or anything, but with three kids, there are lots of activities, messes abound, and schoolwork is always a hassle. What can I do to get us all more organised and in sync with each other?