Last year, I put together a list of Irish suppliers from whom I've bought and tried and tested products – I'm adding a few more to it this year, as the inclination to try to support local businesses continues. There's nothing like a crisis to bring people together, and it's heartening to see the effort people have ...
There is a nice thread on Twitter today where people are remembering their mothers. This is my mum. I don’t often write about her. Actually, I never do. But today seems like a day to do so. This photo was taken before my Debs and I’m wearing a dress she made. I remember how certain ...
This day last year, March 12th, at around this time, I remember listening to the radio and bursting into tears when it was announced that schools would be closing for two weeks. It felt dramatic and scary and surreal and as we all know, it went on for a lot longer than two weeks. It feels ...
It's a Sunday night like no other - like thousands of parents up and down the country, we're checking codes and devices and searching (and searching and searching) for that missing email (or was it an Aladdin message or maybe a text message) with the times for the call or the codes for the app. ...
German lessons. Typing programs. PE classes. I look back now on the lists I put together in March, the things I thought would fill my kids’ days, and I shake my head. Not in a mean way, I’m just bemused at my early-lockdown-self, the one who thought the kids would spend their time in productive pursuits. In ...
One week in. It is surreal to think that a week ago, the kids were still at school. Things have changed so much since then, in ever decreasing circles of things we feel comfortable doing. So where are we now? It changes every day. Every hour even, as we all try to find our rhythm. Then it changes ...
Five o'clock Thursday. Peak domesticity. The washing machine was swirling. The dishwasher was whirring. The sausage rolls for Friday's lunch boxes were half-cooked. The shower was running, the heat was heating, the lights were on. Until suddenly, mid spelling-test-prep, they weren't. The house was in darkness. Myself and the spelling-test-prepper looked at each other, then she ran ...
As I picked up my middle-child from football training tonight, she said, as is her wont when it's just the two of us, "So how was your day?" "A day of two halves," I said, thinking back. It went something like this: One half: My eldest decided to make pancakes yesterday morning, but at 8.05 she was still trying to ...
What makes a holiday? Is it time off work, or time to yourself, or time with the kids, or a break from the kids? Is it time to read your first book this year or time to get through six? Sunbathing or swimming or sliding or sailing or sleeping? Time off social media, or time ...
Vanessa Tierney is a mother of two and business-owner who has moved back from the UK to settle in Wexford. She talks about the benefits of ditching the commute and working from home - the premise on which her business is founded. Thank you for taking part in this interview series for Office Mum - so let’s ...