Office Mum stories – Ciara Garvan

“I think the optimal solution – just like kids – changes all the time.” Ciara Garvan wanted flexible work that could fit around her three children, and having spotted a gap in the market, founded WorkJuggle.com, an agency that matches people to flexible roles. Here, she talks about her SAHM days, her optimistic expectation of a ...

Three years into freelancing: The good, the bad, and the perfectly fine

Back in April 2017, when I'd been freelancing for two years, I started this post. I think the fact that it's taken me over a year to actually finish it probably sums up freelancing life better than anything else I could say below. But anyway, just over three years into freelancing, here's what works, what doesn't work, and whether ...

Motherhood and Feminism and Being Let Down

Clothesline - Office Mum

Has motherhood been let down by feminism? I was sent this article today and it brings up some really interesting points. The person who sent me the link told me she misses her career, but knows she’d miss her kids more if she was working full-time, so she’s staying at home for now. She feels ...

I’m going to be the best parent ever… honest

hygge

Kissing each child goodnight, I said the same thing - in my head so I wouldn't wake them - I said "From now on, I'm going to be the best parent ever." It's something I often say when I'm kissing them at night - when they're fast asleep and it's easy to want to do ...

Working To Pay For Childcare

HerFamily Irish mothers

Would you consider working just to cover the cost of childcare? According to a recently released EU-wide study, that's exactly what huge numbers of Irish women are doing. The researchers used a “Participation Tax Rate” (PTR) to see what percentage of earnings are lost through tax, loss of social welfare benefits, and childcare costs. The study was based on ...

Why Are Straight Women Earning Less?

Office mum work family balance

"Maybe sexist dynamics within heterosexual couples cause straight women to slip down the earning scale. Lesbians will never view their career as second fiddle to a male partner’s because they don’t have male partners." I was reading a piece by Una Mullally in the Irish Times yesterday morning, and the above two lines stopped me. The article ...

Office Mum stories – Alma Jordan

Alma Jordan - Office Mum

“I do suffer with working mother’s guilt, but I wonder if this ‘guilt’ is something I am feeling based on what I believe others are thinking” The interview series returns after a summer break, featuring Kildare native Alma Jordan. After years in sales and marketing, the mother of one recently set up her own business, AgriKids, ...

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 ...

A Little Girl’s View on Women Who Work

"Because dads have harder jobs than mums," announced my seven-year-old, stopping me in my tracks, as we pulled into the playground. She was chatting about summer and playdates and conversations she'd been having with friends in school about seeing each other over the holidays. She'd worked out that one of her friends might be around, because ...