During the pandemic, the focus has been on how education and social interaction with peers were integral to children's functioning. However, very little regard was given to another very important question- how do our children feel about the pandemic and how do they process this experience? Why is it assumed that cognitive functioning and social interaction are the most significant areas of child development? What emotional factors are at play? Are the children alright? How are their families coping and does this have an impact on the children? What I hope to achieve by compiling this edited collection is to bring awareness to the child's perspective, within the family unit, in addition to addressing other contributing factors that had an impact on their coping mechanisms. This collection will hopefully inform whether the choices, that were made and should be made related to children, have been sound ones and perhaps should be re-examined as a result of this book's findings, conclusions and speculations

This book is about the two-tiered system and invisible imbalance that operates within the framework of the family. It is about the fantasy of the 'happily-ever- after,' which the wedding industry promotes and Western society reinforces. Why are we hanging onto this faux happiness at the expense of our future well-being? Why don't we wonder what happened after 'they lived happily ever after' and if, in fact, they really do? What I hope to achieve by writing this book is to rattle the cage of young brides, about to embark on this journey, to talk about these issues with their future partners and to set the system up in a more equal way, so no one is caught off guard if and when things crumble. It will be difficult to achieve this task because no one wants to think about things falling apart before the marriage even begins, and most certainly it sours the sweetness of the fantasy of the 'happily ever after,' as we know it. What we don't realize is that there will be less bitterness and upset for the family, especially for the children, if we pursue this line of thinking. Isn't that the real 'happily-ever-after?'

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Sharon Hays' landmark book, The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood, this collection will revisit Hays' concept of "intensive mothering" as a continuing, yet controversial representation of modern motherhood. In Hays' original work, she spoke of "intensive mothering" as primarily being conducted by mothers, centered on children's needs with methods informed by experts, which are labourintensive and costly simply because children are entitled to this maternal investment. While respecting the important need for connection between mother and baby that is prevalent in the teachings of Attachment Theory, this collection raises into question whether an over-investment of mothers in their children's lives is as effective a mode of parenting, as being conveyed by representations of modern motherhood. In a world where independence is encouraged, why are we still engaging in "intensive motherhood?"