"Mum, can I go into the sandpit?" Hurrah! Music to my tired ears, after an hour following him around slides and swings and zip-lines and rope bridges. I'll just sit on the side here and keep an eye on him in case he throws sand or walks off to try something else. I might just check my phone in ...
The sun was shining, they'd finished lunch, and they needed some fresh air. I had no more excuses. Time to hit the playground. They wanted to go to the one nearest our house - the one where there's cool stuff but it's always freezing cold and there's no decent coffee nearby. "What about Cabinteely Park instead?" ...
Day 1 not in the office - Tuesday May 5th The kids were off school today, and it was a very normal day. I've had dozens of days like this, when I've taken annual leave during school holidays, and this didn't feel too different. No big "shock" moment. That's good. We went to the playground - they ran ...
I saw a little boy in a restaurant today. He was in his mother's arms as she tried to order bagels at the till. He wanted cake, and tried squirming out of her arms to get it. When she said no, he shrieked and howled. She was embarrassed, but ploughed firmly on with her order, raising ...
We've waited for today for weeks now. A whole day off. I'm not at work, and they're not at school. It was going to be the best one-day mid-term EVER. We made no plans - we were going to take it easy - see where the day might take us. And that worked out just ...
I get to be a stay-at-home mum once a week, so I know exactly what it's like. No, not really. In fact not at all. My one day per week of SAHM-dom is Friday, so it's not quite a representative example of true stay-at-home parenting. On Friday, the traffic is lighter, the moods are lighter, ...
Ray D'Arcy was in the playground. I glanced at him, looked away quickly, then casually glanced over a few minutes later. It was definitely him. Was Jenny there too? Yes! There she was! I had a sudden urge to walk over to the two of them and say hello. I mean, I know them right? ...
We're getting braver. This summer we took five day-trips. Not too adventurous and not too far from home, but a step-up from last year. Baby-steps - or toddler-steps as the case may be. So here's a quick review of five destinations - all within an hour of Dublin: 1. Clara Lara This was possibly our favourite day ...
All the talk after the first kids' club visit was about Darragh-from-Dublin. Or Mr. Pilkington as he was known by those in the know. Emmie had gone on her own for this first visit, but her enthusiastic stories of painting and treasure hunts and Darragh-from-Dublin were enough to convince Clara to join her the next ...
"I hate the playground" said the woman as she sat back down on the low wall. "Me too" I replied, shaking my head as I plucked a squirming toddler off the top of the slide. The very nice woman had just leaped up to grab Sam, who had decided that at twenty months it is perfectly ...