Alpha Mummy - Times Online - WBLG

Shout out to our Alpha Mums in Oz

AM reader Fiona in Australia (and mummy to little Airlie Fae) wrote in about becoming a working mum with her own business. "My own daughter was born at 27weeks due to pre eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome in January 2006 and we struggled to find products and support so I decided to set up my own hub for families to go to." Her website momentbymoment.com.au stocks gifts for premature babies, twins and triplets. (About 17,500 babies are born prematurely in Australia each year.) Really nice site with lots of personal warmth, including reader stories of their tiny babies. Thanks for writing in and sharing it with us, Fiona.

"All she ever wanted was an apology"

This is not a post about Gina Ford and her parenting philosophies. This is not personal criticism on Gina Ford or the theories she espouses. Gina Ford, after all, has received an apology from Mumsnet after her libel claim against the site. "All she ever wanted was an apology" say her lawyers. That's all? Well, in any case, the site run by a bunch of North London mums has also thrown in a five-figure sum that Ford's been awarded.

You can see Mumsnet's brief statement here, also featured on Gina Ford's site, which incidentally says, "I have long thought that Netmums, with a membership of 265,000, should be sponsored by the government as they do such a great job of supporting parents not just online but in real life too."

And that's all I have to say about that.

Does your presence offend people?

Linda writes to ask: "I'd very much like to know how you deal with the nasty glares from other grown ups when you have the audacity to take your children into such a thing as a restaurant, theatre or God forbid, hotel?" She's written about it on her fine blog You've Got Your Hands Full. I find that only eating at Pizza Express is a good solution... (image via Rich Johnson)