This is a post for any first time or expectant mothers out there; some tips that I wish I’d known when I was having my first baby six years ago. Information is power – that’s an inarguable truth. But where to get the information? How do you know if it’s the right information?
“Work is a break for me” and “Heading home now to the real job” are some of the comments I used to hear from work colleagues who were parents – this was before I had children myself, and really, I didn’t believe them. Surely they were just trying to make
“Weekends and Christmas are sacred . One of my reasons for leaving the hospital was so that I’d never miss Christmas Eve or Christmas morning with my husband and kids.” For the twelfth instalment in the Office Mum interview series, I meet Nicola O’Byrne who is a lactation consultant in
“Take the path of least resistance” was the wise advice from Fiona Kennedy in this week’s blog interview. This is certainly the path we took in our house this morning, which is how the two-year-old ended up in our bed at 5.15am watching Mickey Mouse on YouTube. If I’d had chocolate
“So how was school today, any news?” I asked, as I turned the key in the ignition. “Mum, I think Emily is moving to Wexford. She wasn’t supposed to tell me, so don’t say it to her mum if you see her at the school. Maybe you can ask her
Bedtime doesn’t happen as early as it should in our house. Well, the kids usually come down looking for a glass of water or to say they can’t sleep, but actually they’re not so bad when the initial “OK time for bed” announcement is made – they’re usually fairly acquiescent heading
“He loves his new baby sister” enthused my work colleague about his little boy, “he’s not jealous at all, he’s always hugging and kissing her, he’s so good” Great so, the upcoming birth of my second child was bound to lead to exactly the same kind of loveliness. I wasn’t
Last Saturday morning was always going to be stressful. My husband was leaving at 7.30am for his annual trip to a Liverpool game with “the lads” (at what age are they no longer “the lads”?) – this in itself was not a problem. I feel that six years into being
“I always say ‘nobody died’ and then try and get on with it. Women are natural multi-taskers so we tend to think we can ‘do-it-all’. In my experience, something has gotta give” Lorraine Keane, well-known Irish broadcaster, is this week’s interviewee in the Office Mum interview series. In her capacity as Microsoft
Lots of people are worrying about the clocks going back and babies waking early, Here’s my take on it: My baby wakes around 6am – he will wake at 6am tomorrow morning, though it will be considered to be 5am due to Daylight Savings. So I’m not going to change
From sandals to boots overnight – summer is a goner. And we’re all fine with that; as a nation we’ve agreed that we can’t complain, because the summer was just so good this year (by nation I mean three real-life conversations plus the general consensus on Twitter) I’m thinking back
You stepped silently down the stairs, gliding almost, and quietly joined us in the kitchen. The skirt that grazed your ankles a year ago when you first wore a uniform is now swishing around your knees. You slipped wordlessly into your seat, entirely focused on breakfast to the exclusion of
Two weeks ago, the toddler discovered television. And I am so happy. I know it’s not good for him, I know at twenty months he is too young for TV, but my happiness outweighs any anxiety or guilt I might have about this. For the first time in six years,
Just before teatime: “Mum can I use the big scissors to cut some paper? please say yes, mum please, just say yes” from my five year-old. My instinctive response was “No, I’m getting the tea ready now, I can’t let you use the scissors on your own” But I stopped
Mommy-wars. Or since we’re in Ireland, let’s say Mammy-wars. I can’t stand the term, but it’s the widely-used name for the phenomenon of mothers judging mothers on every element of parenting, originally coined to refer to mothers working outside the home versus stay-at-home mothers. Newspapers love the SAHM/ mothers working outside the
This is not a light, self-deprecating, jokey post – I really lost it with my five year old today, and I’m feeling bad about it. I shouted at her, marched her up the stairs, and told her that she wasn’t going to the party that she was invited to this
It’s hard to fit everything into the working day: morning rush, getting kids ready for school, getting self in somewhat presentable state for work, long commute catching up on e-mails and texts, work for eight hours, sort out optician appointments for kids, do online groceries or submit health insurance claims if
So it’s the end of the Easter holidays and parents all over Ireland are breathing a sigh of relief – some because they are at home with their children all year round and it’s a little more difficult to keep everyone entertained during school holidays, and some because they’re at work and find it
It’s Good Friday, and I haven’t thought about work once today – I love that. We took the kids to Powerscourt House and Gardens – well OK, the House followed by an “adventure” exploring the trees and grass verges on the way back to the car, via the garden centre.