Today we went to a birthday party - all five of us. My eldest has been giving out about this upcoming birthday party for the last two weeks, saying she wouldn't know anyone, she'd be older than all the other kids (the birthday girl is a friend of my four year old), she'd have nothing to ...
Tag: parents
the birthday party
So. Hosting children's birthday parties. I can't possibly be the only person who finds this extremely stressful? When chatting about this to other parents, I sense that they don't find this quite the ordeal that I do. Or perhaps some are better than I am at hiding the fear? I feel slightly...embarrassed about the amount of anxiety ...
Doing the right thing (never again)
Do you ever do something because it's the right thing to do, and afterwards wish you'd taken an easier, less selfless route, as your well-intentioned plans backfire all around you? I don't mean big life choices like whether or not to take a year out to work for Doctors without Borders (à la every US medical ...
Childcare betrayal
Breach of trust, on every level. Like thousands of people who watched Prime Time last night, I’ve spent the morning trying to focus on work but my mind keeps going back to the images of children being slammed down on mattresses, tiny toddlers being punished despite being far too young, a little girl being cursed at ...
Weighing in on childcare
As a mother to three children under six, most of my adult conversations every day are with other parents, most of whom have kids in childcare. Over the last few days, a recurring topic is the news story about RTE's Prime Time sending undercover researchers into two Dublin creches, and gathering video footage of children allegedly being mistreated. See ...
More Guilt – and Some Practical Tips for Dealing With Exhaustion at Work
It’s lunchtime and I’m under my desk having a snooze. Well not really, but that’s where I’d love to be right now, as I scribble these notes and drink my third cappuccino. My baby was up all night, and I’m beyond exhausted. OK he’s not technically a baby anymore, and it wasn’t quite all night, just 1am ...