There's no such thing as a perfect parent - even the kindest, most calm parents have off days (and I suspect it's a good thing for kids to know parents aren't perfect) but apparently more than half of Irish parents feel they're failing, and this feeling is amplified by the internet and social media. So from ...
If you're a campsite person, you'll have had the conversation; the one where you chat with the people in the mobile home across the way about which campsites you've been to and which ones they've been to, and which ones were great and which ones were awful. Who you stayed with, the size of the pools, and ...
My laptop and I are in a coffee shop for lunch. It's a little bit because there's no fresh bread at home, and a little bit because it's good to get out. I'm grumpy, because my soup came with toasted sourdough. I could have toasted my not-fresh bread at home. Sourdough feels like an excuse for not-fresh ...
The Last Full Day It's our last day. Yesterday was our last time doing school pickup and coming back to this house, the same house we've come home to every day since they started school. I didn't say it as we pulled into the driveway. The kids have been so sad about leaving, they didn't need ...
My eyes water. Wind, sharp and stinging, pushes my hood down and drives me back. I lean in, but not in a Sheryl Sandberg way. I've got 58 minutes and five tasks. Stocking fillers. A fancy gift box. A Secret Santa pick-up. Stamps. A book. Dark shapes huddle under hoods, rushing in all directions, maybe ...
One night a few months ago, I made a third attempt to get my six-year-old interested in Cabin Fever, a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book by Jeff Kinney. I read it for him as his bedtime story, promising he could have a second story if he didn't like it. There may have been an ulterior ...
Every year for the last four years, September and October have been a little challenging* in our house (*all-out chaotic messy nightmare). The fact that this four-year timeline coincides with my departure from my office job is surely neither here nor there - no doubt something other than my presence has caused all of this, ...
Pivot. I like that word. It makes me think of a dancer, or a gymnast turning to the next move in a routine. I was never a dancer, but I did harbour gymnast dreams once upon a time - first, Olympic dreams (because why not, and because I was six), then only slightly less unrealistic ...
A few weeks ago I took the middle child out for a lunch date to Dundrum, preceded by a trip to Claire's for some new hairbands. When I opened my phone cover to take out my Laser card, it wasn't there. Nor was my parking ticket. I had a credit card in my wallet so could ...
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 ...