Oh September, you crafty devil. From opposite corners of the ring, we faced each other, eyeing each other up, ready for the 30-day bout. You picked me up, you shook me, you slammed me down - over and over. But I knew you were coming for me, and I braced myself, and I made it through in one ...
Author: Andrea Mara | Office Mum
If I Could Bottle It
"Mum, give me three words that describe me," one of you said to me last night, as you twirled around the sitting room, fifteen minutes after you first said goodnight. "Enthusiastic, enthusiastic, and enthusiastic," I said, and you laughed. "Okay give me three that don't describe me." "World famous singer. Now go to bed." There are so many other ...
Septembering Again
It's half past two. One child keeps dawdling behind (then running ahead) while another is sad because something happened at school but she'll tell me at home, and the third is annoyed because I keep interrupting what she's telling me - to find the one who's dawdling behind (or running ahead). It's three o'clock, and we are finally home. Somehow ...
Office Mum stories – Ciara Garvan
“I think the optimal solution – just like kids – changes all the time.” Ciara Garvan wanted flexible work that could fit around her three children, and having spotted a gap in the market, founded WorkJuggle.com, an agency that matches people to flexible roles. Here, she talks about her SAHM days, her optimistic expectation of a ...
The Wedding Crashers
The Woman in the Garden
Five more day-trips: Another whistle-stop tour
Once upon a time, we went on lots and lots of day-trips. In 2014, I put together mini-reviews of our trips that summer, including Tayto Park, Clara Lara and Rathbeggan Lakes. I did something similar in 2015, when we tried Wells House, Powerscourt Waterfall and Kia Ora Farm. In 2016, I summed up the places we'd ...
Instructions from a ten-year-old
When I was about thirteen, I remember reading Flowers in the Attic and realising pretty quickly that it was a good thing my parents didn't know what it was about. I'd been stopped from reading Judy Blume's Forever a few years ago, and had learned to be more careful about revealing my reading choices. It's ...