Blog List

I don't think anybody would fall off their chair in surprise on hearing that parenting as a single mother can be a challenge. When you're used to sharing at least the same roof as the children's father, chaos ensues when they leave. After a while, however, you cobble together your own version of ‘normal’ family life. Eight years later, I have been a single parent for almost as long...

Last week I took advantage of having the car for the week while my husband was away for a few days for work. I was so excited to be able to get out driving and planned day trips to visit family and friends. On Thursday I visited a great friend of mine in Longford and her two beautiful daughters. I was really looking forward to seeing the three of them and finally meeting her youngest. When we...

I had the opportunity to study my two teenage children in their natural habitat recently and it was a real eye-opener to say the least. Over recent months, I realised how little I see my eldest two despite being a stay-at-home mum. They sleep eight hours a day (16 on weekends), spend six hours in school and then much of the rest of their time is spent ‘out’. Wherever that is. Trying to keep...

When I was a child I was utterly oblivious to the pressures felt by my parents. Like any child, I had no idea whether they felt compelled to keep up with the Joneses or felt pressurised into making decisions or purchases based on appearances. If they did, they kept it from me. Had they attempted to communicate it, I would have listened politely, nodded at the appropriate time and asked whether...

Remember in the weeks and months after you gave birth, all you wanted to do was make mad passionate love 24/7? Anytime, anywhere, you were up for it. Remember that? Yeah, me neither. So when new mum Kelly Clarkson hit the headlines in recent days for saying that she never wanted to be one of those women who had to schedule sex with her other half, I thought: “Well, good for you, but some of us...

My seven-year-old son seems determined that I come to terms with my own mortality and it looks like he’ll stop at nothing until I feel like I’m staring death in the face at least once a day. It’s disconcerting to say the least. I know, I know- what kind of horror am I raising? It’s not how it seems, however, but that doesn’t really make it any easier to shrug off sometimes. It all...

There is nothing quite like a beautiful, sunny day to make us all feel happy and relaxed. And as we enjoy our third ice-cream while basking in the yellow glow, our bodies are getting some much-needed vitamin D. Now I’m not the type of person you’ll find sunning themselves on the beach or in the garden - my pale, freckled skin just doesn’t bode well with it - I do love when summer comes...

I have heard numerous reports from stay-at-home mums that they’re treated like pariahs in the playground. They're apparently made to feel like they’re incapable of holding an intelligent conversation or contributing in any real way to a ‘worthy’ discussion because the chose to stay at home and raise their children. I can sympathise wholeheartedly with this plight despite being a...

For some of us, becoming a mum is not the blissful experience we expect. I’ll never forget the day we took our son home, nine years ago. As we left the hospital with our little bundle of joy, we both kind of stopped and hovered at the entrance - wasn’t someone going to step in and point out that we had no idea what we were doing? No one would let me sit in a car for the first time and drive...

I have an exceedingly colourful turn of phrase. And by ‘exceedingly colourful’, I mean I can swear with the best of them. Unfortunately, that’s when I’m actually in a good mood. I can positively turn the air blue when I’m even remotely inconvenienced. Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely not something I’m proud of. In fact, it’s something I constantly try to rein in when I’m in...