The Family College · Course

Your First Baby, Your New Team

Nobody registers for who takes out the recycling. Plan the first year together, one small conversation at a time, and finish with a First-Year Team Plan you keep and revise. For couples, co-parents and solo parents with someone in their corner.

For adults expecting or newly welcoming their first child by birth, adoption, fostering, surrogacy or fertility treatment: couples, co-parents, and solo parents planning with a chosen support person.

Start level 1 free

Milo and Mia, the Love Campus illustrated couple, set off along a path of seven gold stepping stones with their notebook and mugs.

Your hosts: Milo & MiaThey open the course and turn up along the way, with a few of their friends. Meet them →

You'll come away able to

What matters to us: your shared priorities for the first year, written down before sleep deprivation has a say.
A responsibility plan: an owner, a backup and a review point for every job. "Owner" includes remembering that the job exists.
A support map: who can help, with what, and the exact message to send them.
Visitor and privacy preferences: who visits when, who hears the news first, which photos go online, and kind words for "not yet."
A communication card: a clear way to ask for things, and a pause signal for arguments that are really about being tired.
An adult rest schedule and contact list: plan who covers which responsibilities, identify backup where available, and record local professional contacts after checking their details.
Return-to-work, childcare and budget plans: decided together, with no rankings and no judgment.
A review routine: so the plan keeps up with the baby, who will have notes.

The seven levels

21 short courses in 7 levels. Each course has 5 lessons and an exam of 5 questions (pass with 4 correct). Retakes are included.

I NewbieShow up. Start small. Free

Shared expectations, an agreed list of priorities and a first draft of the Team Plan, whatever route brings the baby home.

Meet Your New TeamI Thought We Were Going To… · Your Childhood Is a Reference, Not a Rulebook · Choose Your Priorities · Who's on This Team, Exactly? · Plans Written in Pencil
Every Route to Day OneSame Team, Different Paperwork · Planning Solo, With Someone in Your Corner · Waiting Well When the Date Is Unknown · When It's Hard to Get Here · Your Family's Story, in Your Own Words
Before Day OneThe Things Nobody Puts on the Registry · Leave, Work and Who's Home When · The Money Conversation, Before the Diapers · The Freezer Is a Team Member · Your First Team Plan Draft

II ApprenticeOwn the whole task.

A responsibility plan with an owner, a backup and a review point for each job, plus a reliable handover.

The Household Still ExistsLaundry Doesn't Take Parental Leave · The Minimum Livable House · Meals on Autopilot · Errands, Batched · What Can Wait Until Next Year
Ownership Includes RememberingOwnership Includes Remembering · Owner, Backup, Review Point · Helping Is Not Owning · Different Standards, Still Done · When It's Mostly You: Owning With Backup
The HandoverThree Facts at Every Handover · One Place for Shared Notes · Handing Over to Grandparents, Friends and Sitters · When a Handover Goes Wrong · Thanks for the Invisible Bits

III PractitionerListen. Understand. Act.

A support map, ready-to-edit visitor messages and agreed privacy preferences.

Turn 'Anything You Need' Into Something UsefulMap Your Support Crew · Specific Asks Get Specific Help · Help You Pay For, and Help You Don't · Support From a Distance · Asking Without Apologizing
Visitors Are Welcome, With ArrangementsDecide the Visitor Policy Together · Short Visits, Clear Exits · Helpful Guests, Briefed in Advance · Saying 'Not Yet' Kindly · When Visitors Travel a Long Way
Your Family, Your PrivacyWho Hears the News First · Photos, Posts and Permission · Unsolicited Advice, Politely Filed · Each of You Talks to Your Own Family · Privacy for Adoptive and Foster Families

IV SpecialistMake room for us.

Clear request scripts, a pause-and-return agreement and small daily habits for staying connected.

Make the Request ClearTired Brains Need Clear Asks · Ask, Don't Hint · The Two-Sentence Request · Yes, No or Not Right Now · Clear Asks for Your Support Person, Too
Pause With a Plan to ReturnSpot the Tired Argument Before It Starts · The Pause Signal · Coming Back to It · Repair, Not Replay · When It's More Than a Disagreement
Small Ways to Stay ConnectedTen Minutes, Not About Logistics · Affection on a Tiny Time Budget · Intimacy When Both of You Are Ready · Friendships Count, Too · Connection for Solo Parents

V ExpertCare without conditions.

A fair night rota, protected rest for every adult and a who-to-call list, with logistics only and no clinical advice.

The Night ShiftNo Prizes for Most Tired · Protected Rest for Every Adult · The 3 a.m. Handover · Sleep-Deprived Decision Rules · Borrowed Nights for Solo Parents
The Grown-Ups Need Care, TooRecovery Runs on Its Own Schedule · Know Who to Call · Any Parent Can Struggle · Small Care, Actually Possible · A Code Phrase for 'I Need Help'
The Long DaysThe Day Shift Is a Shift · Leaving the House in Under an Hour · The Advice Firehose, Filtered · Good-Enough Days · Something to Look Forward To

VI Distinguished FellowPlan a life together.

Agreed plans for returning to work, choosing childcare and a calm monthly budget check-in.

Back to Work, Back to the PlanThe Return Date Is a Project · Re-dividing the Load · Talking With Your Employer About What You Need · The First Week Back · When One Parent Stays Home
Childcare, Chosen TogetherOptions Without Rankings · Questions to Ask Any Carer · The Childcare Handover · A Backup Plan for Sick Days · Grandparents as Childcare
The New-Family BudgetWhat Actually Changed in the Budget · Big Purchases, Decided Together · Gifts, Hand-Me-Downs and Thank-You Notes · Money Talk Without Blame · Planning on One Income for a While

VII MasterA practice. Not a finish line.

A complete, revised First-Year Team Plan and a review routine to carry into year two.

When Reality Changes the PlanThe Plan Met the Baby · Spot What's Not Working · Renegotiate Without Blame · Big Changes, Step by Step · When Life Gets Heavy
Your First Team ReviewSet Up the Review · What Worked, What Didn't, What's Next · Celebrate the Invisible Wins · Update the Support Map · A Review Routine for Year Two
Happy First Birthday, TeamLook How Far You've Come · Traditions Invented This Year · The Couple, the Co-Parents, the Crew · Whatever Comes Next · Graduation: Your Plan, Version Two