“What would you like for your birthday dinner?” I asked my husband, my mind veering between pizza or steak. “What about that sausage lasagne you used to make – we haven’t had it in ages,” he said. There’s a reason we haven’t had it in ages – it takes me
The alarm goes off. I fumble under the pillow, trying to press any button I can find. There is no way on earth it’s morning. I refuse to believe it. I try to find the button that snoozes rather than turning it off, because even though it’s clearly impossible that
When you were born, I didn’t know why you cried. I carried you night and day, thinking I was doing something wrong, but now I understand, you just wanted to be near me, as newborn babies do. It’s so very obvious in hindsight. And 20 months later when your sister
We run along the path, glimpses of blue bobbing up and down in time with our steps. Down we go to the edge of the road, then we wait for the green man to stop the slow-moving but determined traffic. Across, and they keep running, but I stop for a moment, because there
Queuing’s not much craic really, is it? I was trying to think of times when it’s fun – maybe lining up to go into a night club? Something I can just about remember from a very long time ago. Or waiting to go into a concert? Maybe. But your average
Did you have the Easter Bunny when you were a child? We didn’t. We always got an Easter egg each, and I think (though I may be wrong) they were left at the end of the bed, but they were always from our parents. The first time I heard that
I was writing about brick walls yesterday – the kind you hit during pregnancy. It was for an article on twins and triplets, and lots of people I interviewed talked about brick walls. It swirled around in my head for the rest of the morning and I wondered if I’m
I’m sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through Facebook while the sound of Gargamel and Papa Smurf come from the sitting room, and the smell of chorizo pasta fills the kitchen. Well, just chorizo – there’s no pasta yet. Because if I put on the pasta, in ten tiny minutes
If you’re a mother who has ever read a back-to-work article or blog post, you’ve probably heard references to hot tea – the fabled drink that we all get to try once we return to work after maternity leave. It’s usually mentioned in tandem with adult conversations – two luxuries
The familiar scampering footsteps. I know who it is. He runs everywhere, and his first hop out of bed each morning is no exception. A chink of light as he pushes the bedroom door open, then more running. All the way around to my side of the bed – it’s always
When I was small, I don’t remember my parents ever holding Santa over us at this time of year – there was never a sense that if we didn’t behave, the man in red wouldn’t deliver. Yes, he was magical and all-knowing, but it was all very positive – there
“Causey Farm” is the name that came up over and over when I asked for Santa recommendations a couple of years ago, and this year we decided to go along and see if it’s really as good as everyone says it is. The quick answer: yes it is – it’s
Dear 30 year-old me, This is not a letter to tell you that you shouldn’t worry so much about little things (though you shouldn’t). Nor is it a letter saying don’t wish time away or don’t buy a house off the plans or don’t wear pale pink jeans. It’s about
My four-year-old regularly offers to help me cook. On a macro level, this makes me really happy. Because I am trying to be a good parent, and I know that it’s beneficial to him to learn to cook. On a micro level, this does not make me quite so happy
What do you miss about life before kids? That was the question in an online discussion I read recently. Sleep. Free-time. Me-time. Money. Nights out. Lying-in. Tea that’s not gone cold. Peeing alone. Not in any kind of “I wish I never had kids because I miss that hot tea so much” way. Just a list of
There it is. Where it’s not supposed to be. A purple lunchbox on the kitchen table at 9.12am, separated from its owner who must have decided to tidy her schoolbag this morning after everything had been packed already. And I didn’t notice. Slippage. “Are we late mum?” she asked me
Long, long ago, when we first moved from the heady heights of our 4th floor apartment in Dublin 2 to a rather more serious semi-detached house in Swords, we discovered the joys of flooring and dishwashers and spending Saturday afternoons looking at bathroom tiles. We were catapulted from city centre easy living to
School settling for my junior infant is still a challenge, and I’m exhausted thinking about it and trying to manage it, so like last week, I’m posting about something positive instead. This week the positive thing is work – it’s not that the work itself is different but the time in
I could post an update on how not-swimmingly settling into school is going – I could tell you about all the imaginary conversations I’ve had with the imaginary play therapists and agony aunts I’ve had this week, and all the imaginary answers they’ve given me (“He’ll get there, keep doing
Well. That was a long week. Somehow back to school has been more challenging than ever – I suppose logically that’s how it goes – more kids in school, and more homework because everyone has moved up a class. But I don’t think I realised that having three in school