Summing Up Summer And Figuring It Out

Poolbeg chimneys and Sandymount Strand - Office Mum

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 ...

Life Through a Lens

Le Croisic, Brittany - Office Mum

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 ...

Dear Universe, I’d like a little word

on the way to Sandycove - Office Mum

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 ...

How to do a Day Out in Clara Lara Fun Park

"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, ...

Overthinking it at the Sandpit

rope bridge Clara Lara - Office Mum

"Mum, can I go into the sandpit?" Hurrah! Music to my tired ears, after an hour following him around slides and swings and zip-lines and rope bridges. I'll just sit on the side here and keep an eye on him in case he throws sand or walks off to try something else. I might just check my phone in ...

5 Things to do in Dublin for Free

apple trees - Marlay Park - Office Mum

This post could also have been called "What we did this summer so far", or "Places I lost my youngest child this summer and needed help from strangers to find him" or simply "Brambles cafés we've been too, because they are EVERYWHERE now." We were away for the heatwave and since we've come home from holidays, the ...

Holiday Friends – Watching From The Sidelines

holiday friends - office mum

Long, long ago, on a campsite far, far away, I met a holiday friend called Claire. She had long brown hair and was from Ireland or England – I wasn’t old enough to distinguish accents. I had spent two days sitting on the steps of our mobile home looking across at her, and she’d spent ...