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.
Something I keep forgetting is that it takes my kids a little bit of time to adjust on any given occasion – holidays, new places, days out. They need a few minutes or a few hours to work out that expectations and reality aren’t exactly the same – and it
For years now, Scooby Doo has been entertaining my kids, and also for years, I’ve been telling them that I used to watch Scooby Doo when I was a kid. Every time. They must be thrilled when they see me coming with the same nugget of nostalgia. The blank looks and
I read an article this week about how commercialised Mother’s Day is, how contrived, how Hallmark-y. And another asking why we can’t have Mother’s Day 365 days a year – why does it have to be just one day. And one saying “Please, whatever you do, don’t buy me flowers”. And I
This post was originally published on Scary Mommy (which is why it has “grocery store” instead of “supermarket” and why my kids are a year younger than they are now) Watching Frank Underwood doing his thing in House of Cards last night — pulling himself out of yet another impossible situation with words
At midnight last night, I reached for the book on my bedside locker, then put it back. Before getting lost in the world of Upper-eastside Manhattan, I needed to have a think. To look back on the day, and trace where things went wrong. It wasn’t a terrible day, just
There’s a boy in my house. I met him for the first time last Friday, just for a few hours. He’s back again today, out of the blue. He’s agreeable and charming – he reminds me very much of someone I used to know; someone I forgot existed. Because for
Every now and then, Sinéad from Bumbles of Rice runs a linky where she shares details of a typical week in dinners, and invites others to do the same. For me, as a distinctly average cook, I like this a lot, because it makes me feel normal to see that other
There are some platitudes that annoyed me as a new mother more than others, though I think it often depended on who the platitude-giver was and how little sleep I’d had the night before. My personal blood-pressure-raising one was “sleep when baby sleeps”. I wanted to cry every time I heard it, and
Getting out of the house doesn’t seem to be any easier than it was eight years ago when we had one tiny baby, one huge changing bag and two very confused adults in charge. Lots of parents know the routine: feed the baby, change the baby, pack ridiculous volume of unnecessary
“I’m kind of looking forward to car-time,” I said to my middle child. “Me too!” she said, as we packed up our supplies. It’s the new thing in our house. After months of finding things to do while the eldest is at her gymnastics class, we finally realised that sitting
Summing up your life in eight photos of happiness – it’s kind of irresistible. I’m an obsessive photo-taker and have been since I got my first camera from Santa about thirty years ago, so when Lady Nicci gave me the opportunity to try this post, I was immediately in. Well, immediately plus
The first people on the list have had a house move since last year. I write the card, then address it with the unfamiliar street name. Next, four non-movers, then another new address. This time I don’t know it. I send a message to ask. The card won’t be a surprise but that’s OK,
Dear An Post, For twenty-five years, you’ve been organising Santa replies to letters from children all over Ireland, and for that, I thank you. It’s a kind, altruistic gesture at a time of year that thrives on kind, altruistic gestures. So this isn’t a complaint – it really isn’t. It’s
3 things that are pretty great about freelancing at home This would-be list, written only in my head, was inspired by being home three times this week when the postman brought parcels, and raiding the advent calendar for mid-morning chocolate. Handy. 8 things that are a bit crap about freelancing at
Last night, I picked up the iron from the counter to put it away, but then realised that I don’t know where we keep it. My husband does all the ironing, and always has done. The last time I ironed anything was 2001, when I burned the dress I was
We took the kids for tapas last weekend – not because they’re really into Spanish-style eating and not because we’re trying to broaden their cultural horizons – it was more of an accident really. We went to see fireworks in Dun Laoghaire, and once they were over, we tried a few
I don’t know if it’s the change in weather, or the in-betweenness, or just the relentlessness of the school runs, but the inevitable low has hit and hit hard. A month ago, I celebrated six months as a freelancer – happy with my CV of published articles and thrilled with a blog award.
The roar of football from one room, a kids’ movie in the other. The smell of steak and onions. An as yet unopened bottle of red on the counter. It’s on a promise. The doors are closed, the blinds are down, the pressure’s off. There’s a blanket of calm with a weave of
It’s been eight weeks of school-runs. Eight weeks of yellow-box waves and headlight nods. Eight weeks of leaf kicking and breath taking. Eight weeks of russet and orange and yellow journeys. An up and down start to a whole new phase; finding feet. It’s the most beautiful autumn I’ve ever