Katy Gosset introduces a new series on the Pleasures, Pratfalls and Practical Lessons of Parenting in the Modern World.

Katy Gosset takes a fresh look at the challenges of parenting in a changing world in the first episode of Are We There Yet?

Wanted: Committed mothers and fathers for demanding, full-time positions

Work will include cooking, cleaning and attending to the bodily functions and psychological needs of a dependent.

You will be committed to top quality and engaging child rearing techniques, balancing emotional intelligence with a high threshold for being judged and ridiculed. A comprehensive general knowledge, covering everything from childhood illnesses and social media platforms through to Sponge Bob Square Pants and other inexplicable pop cultural references is a must.

You'll be calm under pressure and in the face of extreme untidiness, bringing order and compassion to stressful situations, and negotiating tight deadlines and thankless tasks with ease, possibly whilst half-asleep. A strong, broadcast quality voice is essential for the regular and repetitive reading of bedtime stories and the delivery of firm rules.

Remuneration: Nil (although some emotions may occur naturally, including, but not limited, to love, excitement, exhilaration and fear, tempered with exhaustion).

Please note: This position includes shift-work.

Apply Now: (The faint hearted need not bother).

It's a Tough Job but someone's got to do It...

Ever felt like you've got all the answers?

How about a miraculous manual on parenting tucked under your pillow?

No? OK then, chances are, like most parents, you've embarked on the great adventure that is child-rearing equipped only with the best of intentions, plenty of enthusiasm and perhaps a dash of trepidation.

But what follows can sometimes best be described a roller coaster.

'You kind of feel like you're bumbling your way through really. There isn't a manual for kids and it's hard to know if you're doing the right thing really. And sometimes you're not," - mother of two

Parenthood has always been exciting, rewarding and just a little terrifying, but in 2017 the challenges have changed.

The intricacies of the Internet, social media and an increasingly fast-paced life can make parenting a stressful business.

Are We There Yet? examines some of the pressing issues parents face today, contrasted with historical audio, courtesy of Archives New Zealand and Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision.

"It really is hard. It's like you've got to be the answer to everything and you can't answer everything can you ? I love it though," - mother of four…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

What to do when your child talks back. Katy Gosset talks to parents and a child psychologist about "oppositional behaviour" and tackling the 'tude.

What do you do when your child talks back? Katy Gosset looks at tackling the 'tude in the second episode of Are We There Yet.

We've all had it. Whether it was a slammed door, a "you're not the boss of me" or just a big, fat "no".

As parents we might know it as attitude, 'tude, back chat or talking back. But, for clinical psychologist Catherine Gallagher, it's oppositional behaviour.

And she says kids know just how to dish it out.

"They learn what your hot spots are and they'll use them mercilessly. That's not because they're evil - they're doing it because it works."

First up, let's clarify just what oppositional behaviour is. Ms Gallagher says, in short, it's doing the opposite of what someone has said that you should do.

"Things like talking back, digging your toes in and not doing the jobs, or going on the go-slow or arguing back: all of the above."

And for parents it can be maddening.

"There's the slamming doors and they'll just go off to their room and we'll say, 'Well, if you do that one more time I'll take your door off your hinge,' and then there's more aggro," one mother of four told us.

"You just have to draw a line in the sand and let them know it's not acceptable," a father of two said.

Ms Gallagher believes some of the tension arises because parenting is such a personal business.

"These little creatures, we love them to bits. So, when they look at us like we're a piece of poo on their shoe and 'how dare you even say that' and 'I don't love you' - all of those things that kids can provocatively say because they know it's going to hit a mark - it can be incredibly challenging."

But, she says, the reasons behind this kind of conflict can come as a surprise to parents.

"Sometimes oppositional behaviour can come from 'I just don't know what to do'."

It's easy for parents to assume a child is refusing to do an activity because they simply don't want to do it, she says.

"In actual fact, it might be, 'I'm not ringing up that friend on the phone because I'm anxious.' Or, 'I don't actually know how to do that. I never practised ringing someone on the phone. What do you say? What might they say?'

"So oppositional behaviour can come from a lack of skill."

Ms Gallagher says it can also occur when parents put unrealistic expectations onto children…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Did your delicious dinner get the "Yuck!" treatment? Katy Gosset talks to families about fussy eating and a clinical psychologist serves up some tips.

'Why can't my child just eat a vegetable?' is the refrain of many parents. Katy Gosset examines the fraught issue of fussy eating in the third episode of Are We There Yet.

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When did you last dish up a disgusting meal?

If you've got children, chances are it's happened in the last week.

We might imagine ourselves to be good cooks but our kids say otherwise, banning broccoli and brussels sprouts from their plates, spurning sauces and spices and issuing insults like there's no tomorrow.

"My younger child, he would just refuse to try any foods and he would just say 'It's yucky' - mother of two.

"They probably ate vegetables up until about 18 months and then it was like their taste buds came in and it was 'Nah!' - mother of two.

"I don't know what it is. They just don't like anything now. It's like you've basically got to cook up a My Kitchen Rules dinner for them or something and they might eat it" - mother of four.

Little wonder then that parents resort to creative solutions.

"I'd mix things in with other things so they wouldn't notice what they were, like cauliflower ... maybe slice it really thin and put it in with mashed potato" - mother of four.

"They both love to bake so I put things like pumpkin in scones or grated zucchini in cakes as ways of getting vegetables into them" - mother of two.

Is something wrong with our cooking? Why do our children reject the meal in the first place?

Catherine Gallagher

Clinical psychologist Catherine Gallagher has spent years working with parents on feeding issues and says there can be many reasons for fussy eating.

But it usually begins with biology.

"It starts with sensory sensitivities. It can start with reflux. It can start with allergies... and then some kids just don't love food."

Others may reject a certain food because it resembles or reminds them of another disliked item.

Children are reacting to both their biology and the anxiety it generates, Ms Gallagher says.

"So if I've eaten food or had stuff go into my tummy and then I've felt sick, then I'm going to develop ways to go "'Bleurrgh... keep that out of my face'."

The child's reaction then provokes anxiety in his or her parents, she says.

She experienced this first hand when taking her own child to Plunket to be weighed…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details