Every year, bright-eyed and innocent, I look forward to going away on holidays - to reading and relaxing and resting, and to getting lots of sleep and sun. And every year, I am yet again taken by surprise to find that the holiday isn’t quite the chilled out, easygoing, restful experience I expected. Here’s what ...
Month: July 2014
Office Mum stories – Melissa Hill
“Women have been conditioned to feel that it’s up to them to keep all balls in the air which in reality is just not feasible (not to mention unfair)” This week’s interview is with bestselling author Melissa Hill, who lives in South Dublin with her husband and four-year-old daughter. After an early career in banking, she ...
Holidays with a dash of toddler
Holidaying with a toddler is kind of a contradiction in terms – if you expect, that is, for a holiday to be a relaxing affair. If you like high-octane adventure holidays, where you come home exhausted after two weeks of running, climbing and water-based-activities, then of course, holidaying with a toddler could be right up ...
The swimsuit edition
So, inspired by a recent Huff Post Parenting article called "Moms, put on that swimsuit!", I've decided to show solidarity; I'm sharing some photos of myself at the pool. I'm kidding. Of course I'm not going to do that. I'm not insane. Like the mum who wrote the article, I spent every sunny day of the ...
Sea change
“Thinking of taking the ferry to France?” I said. “Here are some tips!” I said, like a girl who knows a thing or two about driving to France. Then this year happened. It started out really well – too well really. We were more organised than ever, and managed to leave the house earlier than planned. ...
When the age-gap is small…
When my first baby was a year old, my husband and I thought we had it licked. "This is pretty easy actually," we said to each other, "We've come through the first year unscathed, let's have another one!" I mean, how much harder could two possibly be? As it turned out, when the first baby is still ...
Office Mum stories – Barbara Scully
Out of the office (by the skin of my teeth)
A mellow year over
Can a woman be as good at her job after she has kids? Of course she can.
Can a working mother be as good at her job after maternity leave? That's the question - a Telegraph article headline - that caught my eye yesterday. The writer, UK journalist Antonia Hoyle, goes on to say: "Post-children I am distracted, indecisive and less confident. I am more prone to mistakes and often counter-productively manic in my desire to succeed. I ...