“I’m a big believer in reinvention and now that my baby-making years are over and the child-rearing stage picks up a pace maybe I’ll completely turn things on their head. Or just win the Lotto and sit around knitting, eating cheese and slugging champagne for evermore” This week’s interview is with the lovely Helen O'Keeffe, a ...
I haven't stopped crying for two days - this is only slightly more crying than usual; fueled by goodbyes to teachers and to pre-school and to another chunk of childhood. I'm a crier. Anything sets me off. Some days, everything sets me off. Like yesterday. It started early, when a friend told me she is expecting her ...
I married a man who has jumped out of a plane in his time. I on the other hand, keep myself firmly belted in whenever I'm not on solid ground. He is tall and athletic; I am small and, well, just small. He likes football and rugby and golf. I like shopping and make-up and shoes. He's a ...
My first holiday as a parent was a bit of a shock. I remember looking forward to it, thinking that it would a relaxing, sun-filled, restful ten days - a few glasses of wine, some nice dinners, and lots of sleep. Oh and reading - a great chance to catch up on all those books ...
“I never wanted to be a SAHM. I felt it would not suit me” For this week’s interview, I speak to Tracey Holsgrove, proud mother of one daughter with special needs. Tracey is a community activist who is currently at home, though getting back into part-time work. She blogs at Musings and Chatterings Thank you Tracey for ...
What parenting moments are over for you? And how do you see them now, when you look back? What do you miss? These are the questions being asked by The Busy Mamas for her brand new linky, so I got thinking. I thought about some tangible stages that have finished for good; the milestones that made me teary when ...
It's 8.30pm and I'm sitting in my garden as I type. The doors are open behind me, and I can hear the noise of tonight's World Cup match. My husband is waiting until full-time, then he's going to run to the supermarket for some mid-week supplies. And maybe some ice-cream. As you do, at ten ...
I wonder sometimes if as a nation we all suffer from a little bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder - or at least if there's any science behind the national mood-lift that takes place every time the sun comes out. "Imagine if it was like this all the time," we say, "Sure we'd never leave the country ...
Today's Independent reports on a survey carried out by Dr. Aisling Garvey of Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin, which shows that about 30% of parents are medicating their children to get them to sleep, using over the counter paracetamol and ibuprofen - or as we know them, Calpol and Nurofen. I wonder if some of this is down to interpretation though? For a start, it's ...
“I was just 22 when Claire was born… We had no family in Dublin and crèche facilities were non-existent. I found a nice local woman with kids of her own to mind Claire and I had to return to work full-time the day she was six weeks old. That was very tough” This week I meet ...