School settling for my junior infant is still a challenge, and I'm exhausted thinking about it and trying to manage it, so like last week, I'm posting about something positive instead. This week the positive thing is work - it's not that the work itself is different but the time in which I do the work ...
“I feel guilty sometimes for feeling guilty and the space this takes up in my head when I could be more focused on the girls instead.” Avril Tierney is a Dub living in Laois with her husband and two little girls, and she has not one but two jobs – she works for a charity, and ...
I could post an update on how not-swimmingly settling into school is going - I could tell you about all the imaginary conversations I've had with the imaginary play therapists and agony aunts I've had this week, and all the imaginary answers they've given me ("He'll get there, keep doing what you're doing, it's a ...
Well. That was a long week. Somehow back to school has been more challenging than ever - I suppose logically that's how it goes - more kids in school, and more homework because everyone has moved up a class. But I don't think I realised that having three in school would be quite this different ...
I own a book monster. I take her to library, she gets out ten books, and two days later, she's read them all. I usually find her roaming around the house at night, picking up newspapers and magazines, desperate for something to read until she can get her next library fix. (Which is why she ...
I know this is supposed to be an emotional time. My smallest; my baby; my last baby is off to school. I am meant to be in floods of tears. I should have pockets stuffed with tissues. I'm supposed to just about hold it in when I drop him to his classroom, then let it ...
I like things to have a theme; I like to be able to look back and easily sum things up in three words or a couple of sentences. Like the golden autumn when everything was shiny and sparkling and brilliant. Followed by literal and metaphorical November rain. Or the summer holiday with inauspicious beginnings that turned ...
Sometimes I hide my phone from myself for an hour, so that I can concentrate on the kids without being distracted. And I have some reasonably strict self-imposed rules about not browsing mindlessly when they're around. But one major weakness is taking photos - and it's for that purpose more than any other, that my ...
Dublin, August 2016 Dear Universe, I'd like a little word about something. You see, we had this deal - I do the right thing, and you don't punish me. A very straight-forward agreement. But you don't seem to be holding up your side of the bargain these days, and I think we need to thrash it out. Take ...
"What exactly is Clara Lara?" asked a friend who hasn't been before. Good question. It's called a "Fun Park" but beyond that, it's difficult to define. But we've been every year for the last three years, and the kids love it more than any other day-trip we've done. So if you're thinking of a day out, ...