This is a post for any first time or expectant mothers out there; some tips that I wish I'd known when I was having my first baby six years ago. Information is power - that's an inarguable truth. But where to get the information? How do you know if it's the right information? And where to find the time ...
"Work is a break for me" and "Heading home now to the real job" are some of the comments I used to hear from work colleagues who were parents - this was before I had children myself, and really, I didn't believe them. Surely they were just trying to make themselves sound busier, in a ...
“Weekends and Christmas are sacred . One of my reasons for leaving the hospital was so that I’d never miss Christmas Eve or Christmas morning with my husband and kids.” For the twelfth instalment in the Office Mum interview series, I meet Nicola O’Byrne who is a lactation consultant in Dublin. She is married and ...
"Take the path of least resistance" was the wise advice from Fiona Kennedy in this week's blog interview. This is certainly the path we took in our house this morning, which is how the two-year-old ended up in our bed at 5.15am watching Mickey Mouse on YouTube. If I'd had chocolate to hand, he'd have had ...
"So how was school today, any news?" I asked, as I turned the key in the ignition. "Mum, I think Emily is moving to Wexford. She wasn't supposed to tell me, so don't say it to her mum if you see her at the school. Maybe you can ask her how she is and see if ...
Bedtime doesn't happen as early as it should in our house. Well, the kids usually come down looking for a glass of water or to say they can't sleep, but actually they're not so bad when the initial "OK time for bed" announcement is made - they're usually fairly acquiescent heading up the stairs. It's the grown-ups ...
"He loves his new baby sister" enthused my work colleague about his little boy, "he's not jealous at all, he's always hugging and kissing her, he's so good" Great so, the upcoming birth of my second child was bound to lead to exactly the same kind of loveliness. I wasn't just basing this assumption on one ...
Last Saturday morning was always going to be stressful. My husband was leaving at 7.30am for his annual trip to a Liverpool game with "the lads" (at what age are they no longer "the lads"?) - this in itself was not a problem. I feel that six years into being a parent, I can no ...
“I always say 'nobody died’ and then try and get on with it. Women are natural multi-taskers so we tend to think we can 'do-it-all'. In my experience, something has gotta give” Lorraine Keane, well-known Irish broadcaster, is this week's interviewee in the Office Mum interview series. In her capacity as Microsoft Ambassador, she is chatting about family life and ...
My third child is discovering nursery rhymes. For the first time ever, I sang Baa Baa Black Sheep for him this week - he will be two years old soon, so this is not something to boast about. I also showed him Round and Round the Garden for the first time - he loves it. And ...