Summing Up Summer And Figuring It Out

Poolbeg chimneys and Sandymount Strand - Office Mum

I like things to have a theme; I like to be able to look back and easily sum things up in three words or a couple of sentences. Like the golden autumn when everything was shiny and sparkling and brilliant. Followed by literal and metaphorical November rain. Or the summer holiday with inauspicious beginnings that turned ...

A Manic Year Over

Autumn leaves - office mum

Date: September 1st 2015 Mood: Wild elation Source of mood: Three kids in school and preschool for the first time, meaning I could start working mornings instead of only nights. Guilt levels about feelings of elation: Surprisingly mild. Date: September 5th 2015 Mood: Spirit utterly broken Source of mood: Realisation that 45 car journeys a week might just kill me Guilt levels ...

Love Letter to an Irish Summer

ice cream at home - office mum

White faces because Factor 50 never quite rubs in. Short-sleeves on the school run. Homework in the garden. Lunch in the garden. Dinner in the garden. A tidy kitchen because we've almost entirely relocated to the garden. Ice-cream every day - and twice on Sunday. There's nothing quite like the drop-everything wonder of an Irish summer. The summer ...

The Life-Changing Magic of Freelancing

Georges Quay view - Office Mum

A year ago today, I walked out of my beloved office for the last time, switching from a 17 year career in financial services to the unknown world of freelance writing from home. I say 'beloved' without a hint of sarcasm - I loved my office very much. It was a slightly odd shape, but the ...

Half way through ups and downs

yellow leaves

It's been eight weeks of school-runs. Eight weeks of yellow-box waves and headlight nods. Eight weeks of leaf kicking and breath taking. Eight weeks of russet and orange and yellow journeys. An up and down start to a whole new phase; finding feet. It's the most beautiful autumn I've ever witnessed. I don't know if it's because ...

I. Just. Can’t.

the journey takes longer when he rolls a toy every inch of the way

Three kids. Two locations. Two drop-off times. Three pick-up times. I do the math. Over and over. It's nine separate car journeys a day. Forty-five car journeys a week. I am broken. We're only two weeks into the school-year and my new work from home life, and I am broken. Almost literally. My knees hurt. My ...

WAHMs – I Salute You

office mum potion

As the countdown to summer holidays rolled on last month, one cohort of parents in particular were bracing themselves with an odd mixture of relief and outright fear. On the one hand, it's great to have no more school-runs, no more homework, and a break for the kids. But for WAHMs, who work while the kids ...