GrainneMcCool's Blog

It’s nearing the end of the school year, which means it’s time, once more, for Sports Day all around the country. For many children this is a welcome occasion and for many others it is a day they dread. Non-sports-orientated children feel the competitiveness of this day and are sometimes embarrassed by running in races and coming in last or near last. However it is also a day for all us mums...

Last month I blogged about my eldest son’s decision to move out of home. No, I’m not going to say he’s moved back - that would be disastrous all round. The boy moved out on his 24th birthday and he made it a very simple and hassle free transition. There were no big goodbyes, just a “see you later”. And sure enough we did see him later. He needed a shirt for that night and hadn’t packed...

“Mum, tell him to turn down that television!” “Mum, they’re fighting again!” “Muuum!” There was always a commotion at bedtime. With three sons and just two bedrooms between them, mayhem regularly broke out. The eldest son had his own room and yet it was he who always complained about the noise of his brothers next door. I recall going to my own bed some nights and thinking how great...

Sometimes Mum just needs to get some time on her own away from the kids. As much as I love being a mother, I realise that I also want to be ‘me’. Last year I decided to try something new. I joined a ‘fit camp’. I’d always considered myself reasonably fit; with hoovering, filling coal buckets, carrying kids, running up and down stairs twenty times a day, I had to be fit, right? What a...

“Mum I’ve got something to tell you,” my eldest son said as we sat down to dinner. The boy was 19 and had brought his girlfriend of six months to dinner. I had met the girl in question a few times and liked her, but I hadn’t spent any quality time with her, so was looking forward to this opportunity of getting to know her. I had just put the dinner plates on the table when he made this...

It’s very easy to judge people, and maybe more so when you’re a parent. Perhaps we don’t like our child's friends; or even the neighbourhood they come from. I brought my children up living on a small council estate in Donegal. I loved my home and I had some very good neighbours at the time. But other people outside our immediate area judged us because of where we lived. My youngest son...

Having three sons I always thought that life would be reasonably easier than if I had three girls. I wouldn’t have the ‘first bra’ talk. I wouldn’t have the ‘cat fights’ over clothes. I wouldn’t have the ‘period’ talk...or so I thought. My eldest son was about 11-years-old at the time and he insisted on asking ‘what are they, Mum?’ every time a sanitary towel advertisement...

The eggshells are back on the floor. Like many mothers I’m tiptoeing around them once more. Just when I thought it was safe to relax and de-stress after Christmas I find it’s that time again: exams. End of semester exams for college are upon me (us) and Leaving Cert exams are fast approaching. I’ve been here before so I’ll get through it...won’t I? Education is not for everyone but...

With the New Year upon us, lots of people are talking about changes they want to make in their lives; careers, bodies and even homes. There are so many promising changes that can be made, but after some thought, I decided I would just continue being ‘me’. As I reached this decision I contemplated what exactly being ‘me’ entails. My conclusion was drawn when my younger brother told me he...

‘Twas the night before Christmas and myself and my best friend were having some wine together (once the children were nestled all snug in their beds, of course). We had moved into our new homes earlier that year and now that we were living just a few doors from each other, we decided to begin a new annual tradition Shortly after midnight, my friend went home, and myself and my husband stayed up...