“I tip-toe out of the house every morning when our daughter is asleep and feel sad that I'm not there when she wakes up” The first interview of the new year is with Bridget Farrell, who is married to Ray, and lives in Tullamore. They both work outside the home and have a two and a ...
A good friend told me last week that she's changing jobs - moving from a chilled-out project role back into the mayhem of daily operations. This is the reverse of what she wanted when going back to work after her second baby was born three years ago - in fact for many working mothers, chilled-out project roles ...
Over the last few weeks, one friend announced her first pregnancy, one finished work to go on her first maternity leave, and one is counting down towards her first return to work. All three are going through a mix of nervousness and excitement, but unsurprisingly, for the friend who is going back to work, it's ...
Childcare booked - check. Return to work date agreed - check. Sense of calm and wellbeing? Not quite there yet. Going back to work after maternity leave is a time of mixed emotions for many mothers - for some it's a worry, for some, it's exciting. And for most, it's a lot from column A and ...
Amid the strong support for the feelings expressed in Donna Hartnett's open letter to Enda Kenny, there has also been some "tough luck, you can't have it all" type responses (on Twitter, and some referenced here) I don't think that's the point at all - I don't think anyone expects to "have it all" - certainly not ...
“I’ll be in the middle of writing a feature, trying to meet a deadline, but thinking, “I should really put a wash on, or do the dishes” Freelance journalist Jennifer Riddall moved to Ireland last year from the North West of England and is currently in the process of returning to work after maternity leave. When ...
“When I went back to work after having the twins I found that venture capital and looking after twin girls were not compatible!” This week, I hear from mother of three Anna Frankland, as she explains how she transitioned from working in venture capital in Sydney to setting up her own Pilates studio, Reform Pilates, in ...
So Facebook and Apple are paying for female employees to freeze their eggs, to enable them to continue working for longer before having children, according to NBC news this week. It’s billed as the latest in a series of benefits provided by the corporate giants, as part of what’s termed a “perks arms race”. But what message ...
Since starting Office Mum, I’ve been fortunate to get to know some really inspiring women who work in the area of helping mothers to balance careers with family. They’ve very kindly joined forces to contribute to this post, in order to give you some of their top tips for juggling work and home – setting ...
"Ireland is better than the US but not as good as Scandinavia," I said to the public policy student who was sitting beside me, "I'd say we fall somewhere in the middle." We were at "Families and Work: A Chance for Change", a seminar organised by Start Strong, the National Women's Council and ICTU, ahead of ...