Blog List

I went clothes shopping at the weekend because despite it being the last weekend before pay day, I inexplicably had a few notes left in my account. (No doubt I've forgotten to pay the electricity bill and we'll soon be fumbling around the house in the dark like four mole people.) Clothes shopping used be a leisurely pursuit, but since having children I approach most highstreet stores with...

When you've been married as long as I have, it would be unrealistic to expect your sex life to boast the same passion it did during the honeymoon period. Sometimes, and God knows it kills me to say this, but it can feel like mine and my husband's tumble beneath the sheets is more to do with scratching an itch and less to do with actually enjoying one another. While I know this aspect of...

How on earth do you teach your child how to behave at a wedding? You don’t want to be the only parent whose child makes a scene, causes disruption, or God forbid, does something embarrassing in the church. What could be embarrassing, you might ask? One word. Flatulence. Yes, my daughter, the apple of my eye, the light of my life who was dressed to perfection, came walking down the aisle looking...

Our previous home didn’t have enough of a kitchen for us to sit around the table for proper family meals, so most nights we ended up in front of the telly, dinner on laps or the coffee table, hoovering up our food in a way that felt kind of wrong. I would pause, fork half way to my mouth and survey this family scene: everyone focused on the bright rectangle in front of them, concentrating on...

It was my own fault. I jinxed us all when I breezily announced that we had got through the Christmas break this year without any sickness in the house. The words were barely out of my mouth when we started to go down one by one during the first week of January. Princess Firstborn fell first, starting with sore ears and progressing to sore everything - the virus from hell. I know because I was next...

Your morning routine requires the speed and coordination of a troupe of gymnasts to negotiate successfully. Everyone needs to know their position and perform their role perfectly and on time. If even one step is mistimed or omitted, the entire production falls flat on its face. The words “Mom, I don’t feel well” have no place in this routine. Stage 1: Denial Your first reaction is to pretend...

I am, as you know, a politician. But I am also a Mum. And few things are more important, politically, than how the state looks after children and parents too. You would not think that, of course, if you looked around Leinster House; t oo often it resembles a sort of gentleman’s club, a refuge, if you like, from modernity. One of the biggest objectives I had in forming RENUA was to change that. I...

So it's happened. The dreaded return to work has come and gone. After the first hour of the first day it was like the previous nine months off never even happened, apart from the gentle reminders when people asked: "Are you back already? That flew!". And it did. I was back into the swing of work life within an hour, albeit tired and red-eyed from being up washing duvets and dealing with a...

Recently, a fellow mum took time out of her day to document the various reasons her daughter saw fit to throw a tantrum. From her brother looking at her to her mother offering the wrong breakfast, this particular journey through a little girl’s typical day offered an unrivalled insight into motherhood and family life. Like millions of other mothers, I immediately related, but perhaps...

First Ladies’ style was frequently written off as boring or dowdy, but Michelle Obama made everyone sit up and take notice from the moment she and Barack Obama hit the campaign trail. She loves color and pattern, and she isn’t afraid to mix-and-match different pieces. She is even known to wear glitter and jumpsuits. How many other First Ladies ever did that? Michelle even made us love Banana...