Dublin, August 2016 Dear Universe, I’d like a little word about something. You see, we had this deal – I do the right thing, and you don’t punish me. A very straight-forward agreement. But you don’t seem to be holding up your side of the bargain these days, and I
“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
This post could also have been called “What we did this summer so far”, or “Places I lost my youngest child this summer and needed help from strangers to find him” or simply “Brambles cafés we’ve been too, because they are EVERYWHERE now.” We were away for the heatwave and since we’ve
For five years in a row, we took the ferry to France, then last year, for the first time since having kids, we braved getting on a plane, and we did it again this year. Throughout the journey, I couldn’t help comparing flight and ferry in my head, so in
My name is Andrea, I’m a yeller, and it’s been 163 days since I last shouted at my kids. By no coincidence, it’s precisely 163 days since I had a blow-out shouting match with my six-year-old. She is a chilled out child – my easy one. But unlike her siblings, who are
Once upon a time, when I worked a lot more hours than I do now, I felt like I never had quality time with my kids. Each night when they went to bed, I thought about how another day had slipped by without me noticing. I would try to think
I’ve never personally experienced any sexism. Or at least not as far as I can remember, which may mean it has happened, and I’ve brushed it off as a normal, unremarkable, everyday thing. And that’s exactly the point Laura Bates was making when she set up The Everyday Sexism Project in 2012, a
“Mum, do you think I’m a good singer?” This is a question that causes me to freeze every time it’s asked. And it’s asked at least once a week, and by all three children. I don’t know why they’re obsessed with asking this or what kind of X-Factor plans they
As I lay on my bed yesterday evening, my four-year-old suddenly bounced onto my rib-cage WWE style, and it struck me that parenting involves a fair amount of physical pain. And endurance. And sometimes bravery, while holding back tears. Today is just a regular day, but putting trousers on the wrestler involved
This really, really is the best chocolate cake in the world. So much so, it’s worth going through the drama of baking with kids, just to eat it. Announce that today’s activity is baking, then bask in the shrieks of joy and pronouncements that you’re the best mum ever. Tell
Two things happened yesterday within ten minutes that stopped me in my tracks – not in a world news, earth shattering way, just little things that made me stop and think. We were out on the green (that is where I live now) and my eight-year-old was running up and down the
Isn’t spring just brilliant. Whether you believe it starts on February 1st, March 1s or mid-March (I need guidance on this – my kids are asking every day on which date does summer start) it’s all good. Longer evenings, brighter, (theoretically) warmer weather, and a casting of clouts all about – or at
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
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
This article first appeared in maternity & infant, October/ November issue, and after watching Sugar Crash on RTÉ earlier this week, I thought I’d post it here. Why is dental decay in kids on the increase in Ireland, and why is nobody telling parents that waiting for primary school screening
Since switching to work-from-home life earlier this year, I’m re-learning being with my kids, and one thing I’ve noticed is that they lack self-sufficiency. It’s entirely my fault – only being off at weekends meant that my priority was spending quality time with them. Whether or not they knew how
When my eldest was two, I remember that she really disliked saying sorry. I remember because I found it fascinating that at such a young age, she instinctively recoiled from apologising. It seemed like a very adult reaction from someone too small to really understand the concept of right and
Whenever it all falls apart on the parenting front, I look to see the underlying cause and what I could have done differently. Like when the small boy had a meltdown on the way to school and I carried him screaming all the way, I knew it wouldn’t have happened
It’s after-school activity sign-up time, and I’m looking for some quite specific courses: 1. How to get through the day without changing your clothes fourteen times A course which isn’t necessary for anyone who has a diploma in “putting clothes back in the wardrobe” but is mandatory for everyone else. 2.