“…while being at home with your kids is great…it isn’t easy, you don’t get a break, you can barely get a chance to pee in peace! It is very rewarding in other ways but it is in no way glamorous” This week I meet Sara Delmer who is a twenty-eight
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
“Thinking of taking the ferry to France?” I said. “Here are some tips!” I said, like a girl who knows a thing or two about driving to France. Then this year happened. It started out really well – too well really. We were more organised than ever, and managed to
Can a working mother be as good at her job after maternity leave? That’s the question – a Telegraph article headline – that caught my eye yesterday. The writer, UK journalist Antonia Hoyle, goes on to say: “Post-children I am distracted, indecisive and less confident. I am more prone to mistakes and often
My first holiday as a parent was a bit of a shock. I remember looking forward to it, thinking that it would a relaxing, sun-filled, restful ten days – a few glasses of wine, some nice dinners, and lots of sleep. Oh and reading – a great chance to catch
It’s 8.30pm and I’m sitting in my garden as I type. The doors are open behind me, and I can hear the noise of tonight’s World Cup match. My husband is waiting until full-time, then he’s going to run to the supermarket for some mid-week supplies. And maybe some ice-cream.
I wonder sometimes if as a nation we all suffer from a little bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder – or at least if there’s any science behind the national mood-lift that takes place every time the sun comes out. “Imagine if it was like this all the time,” we say,
Today’s Independent reports on a survey carried out by Dr. Aisling Garvey of Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin, which shows that about 30% of parents are medicating their children to get them to sleep, using over the counter paracetamol and ibuprofen – or as we know them, Calpol and Nurofen. I wonder if some of this is down to
“I was just 22 when Claire was born… We had no family in Dublin and crèche facilities were non-existent. I found a nice local woman with kids of her own to mind Claire and I had to return to work full-time the day she was six weeks old. That was
As I sat in my local Starbucks recently, I noticed how many dad and baby pairings surrounded me, and wondered if perhaps the roles of mothers and fathers are drawing ever closer. Then I thought a bit more, about how different my husband and I are at home and changed
Sometimes he doesn’t pick up the kids’ clothes, and sometimes the same toys sit on the stairs for days, waiting patiently to be transported up or down. He might not spot the mess in the kitchen or the Lego on the floor. But the next time you have an inward
“It is exceptionally hard but people still do it. Other than hormones, there must be a reason people make the choice to become parents multiple times” I had a very interesting, eye-opening conversation today with someone close to me – I’ll call her Claire because I know she’d like to
“ if you want to be a head of IT in a big, multi-million corporation, you are going to have to work very different hours than someone teaching a couple of classes in the evening time. I think if that’s your ambition, then finding time for your children will be
Drink eight glasses of water a day. Take the stairs. Put the phone away when the kids are around. Be on time for work. Be on time leaving work. Pay attention during homework time. Eat five servings of fruit and veg a day. Don’t let the kids watch too much TV. Get seven
Where to buy a moses basket mattress, what to pack in the hospital bag, which books to read, where to find baby name meanings and why you must put your unborn child’s name down for schools: these are just some of the many pieces of advice I was given when
Working mother guilt is a myth, according to widely publicised survey findings from UK parenting website Mumsnet. 48% of the 900 mothers polled said that they were happier having a job than being at home, sparking a range of newspaper articles on the topic, including this one by Bryony Gordon who
My third child is experiencing quite a relaxed toddlerhood, compared to that of my second and especially my first. He has fewer toys, fewer clothes, and hand-me-down everything possible – so a lot of pink. But he’s the happiest, most chilled out kid of our bunch, so we must be
As part of lovely Learner Mama’s linky, I’ve put together ten random things I’ve learned about parenting. They apply to me; they may not apply to everyone. But I wish my pre-mother self had known some of them. Or maybe that would take the fun out of it… 1. Nothing