Kindness is strength. But try telling that to children

The belief is rife in our culture that this great virtue is essentially a consolation prize indistinguishable from weakness, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes

I reclaimed my birth name – and discovered why what we call ourselves really matters

For the first 25 years of my life everyone called me Mandy – and it felt completely wrong

I’m 53 and want to be able to say I love my life. How do I begin, starting from here?

In midlife and mid-pandemic, our connective ties can feel loose, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Rebinding them requires commitment

‘I thought: “Everyone knows you’re not a real mum”’ – the pain of parental impostor syndrome

Feeling like a fraud is bad enough at work but even more corrosive when it comes to raising a family. How can parents overcome damaging self-doubt?

Toxic reaction: how to clear dangerous pollutants out of your home

After tests revealed the levels of harmful chemicals in her blood, the environmental writer vowed to discover the best ways to keep her family safe

Staying up late is out. It’s very pre-pandemic. Go to sleep!

You don’t need me to tell you the health benefits of rest, you weren’t born yesterday. You were born seven weeks ago

‘It is ruining my life’: I divorced my husband after his affair. Decades later the other woman is back

Time cannot heal all wounds, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, but you don’t have to move on completely to leave this pain in the past

I’m heartbroken to miss Christmas with my family – but want to inspire girls with this huge challenge

While my husband and two children celebrate Christmas without me, I will be rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic

‘A lot fell into place’: the adults who discovered they were autistic – after their child was diagnosed

The recorded incidence of autism has increased 787% in 20 years. For many parents, getting help for an autistic child alerted them to their own traits

I’m a long-distance dad so Covid was terrible – but it helped me let go of my guilt

I worried so much about not seeing my son, who lives in Canada, during Covid, but then I realised that he was fine – and being very well looked after