Once upon a time, back in September, it all seemed very difficult. Not seriously difficult - just everyday stuff. Struggling with three in school for the first time. Struggling with three lunches and three lots of homework and three tired kids. Struggling with a little boy who likes to talk a lot and listen only a ...
I accidentally ate a smidge of banana yesterday, and the kids were in convulsions watching my own near-convulsion when I realised what was in my mouth. Most people have at least one food they can't bear, and for me it's bananas. (Shudder) I'll eat pretty much anything else though, and I was the same as a ...
I promised myself (not just an in-the-air promise – an actual written down promise) that the next time I had a lull, I’d take a morning for myself. And here I am – almost all current deadlines met, book edits on the way but not here yet – doing just that. I’m getting my hair ...
As I sit listening to the wind howling around the eaves and the rain spattering on the glass, I'm wondering about the hardy souls who'll brave a night out, and I'm secretly glad of the child-spun tether that keeps me home tonight. And then I remember another St Patrick's Day back in the 90s - working in Fritzpatrick's ...
"I don’t suffer from guilt about working because I know that I’m providing a great environment for my kids – both in terms of seeing their mum with a successful career, and being able to provide what they need" Jenny Lawler was born and raised in Dundrum in Dublin, and is the eldest in a family ...
I was writing about brick walls yesterday - the kind you hit during pregnancy. It was for an article on twins and triplets, and lots of people I interviewed talked about brick walls. It swirled around in my head for the rest of the morning and I wondered if I'm nearing a brick wall of ...
Can you chart your life in music? (Geddit?) That's what Nicola from Simply Homemade asked and I kept thinking about it falling asleep every night, so now I've written it down. There's no way to fit in all the songs that punctuated childhood, teen discos, college years, and moving in with a boy, but here are some ...
What are you reading, listening to, watching, eating, drinking, looking forward to, worrying about . . ? That's the question Maud from Awfully Chipper asked herself - then asked everyone else - a snapshot of what's going on right now. So here's mine: Reading I'm reading and really enjoying Distress Signals by Irish writer Catherine Ryan Howard ...
“Of course I feel guilty . . . In my area of work I have to work Christmas, Easter, birthdays too, and the guilt is huge then too but I didn’t go into nursing blindfolded. I knew that this was ahead of me but it doesn’t make it easier when I’m not there to see ...