Blog List

My son has been experiencing night terrors for approximately three months and I’ll be honest, I think I’m more horrified by the episodes than anyone else. It’s like living with a ticking time bomb who has the potential to wake up and scream bloody murder at any stage between 8pm and 7.30 in the morning. My heart flutters like a bird trapped in a cage and beads of sweat break out at the nape...

Dare we open up a can of worms by talking about the sensitive topic of a mother’s age? Sure, why not! Nowadays, women are starting their families later and later in life, with mid- to late-thirties being the optimum age for so many. Career, financial security, not ready to settle or haven’t met the right person - they are all very valid reasons not to pop a sprog out right now. But while it is...

My six-year-old daughter Grace has recently joined a drama class. Many of the exercises encouraged by her teacher involve imitating classmates and mimicking the actions of various people in an effort to show children how simple it is to slip into someone else’s shoes. Unfortunately for me, this particular exercise has leaked into our family life and Grace has taken to imitating my words and...

Anyone who saw the video clip of 3-year-old Kathryn’s reaction to the news she was about to come a big sister will have undoubtedly chuckled and cooed over the innocence of children. For anyone who hasn’t seen this snapshot into family life, let me quickly fill you in. Upon hearing she was about to gain a younger brother or sister, the adorable little girl looked relatively nonplussed, stared...

I gave up my job when I became pregnant fifteen years ago and since then I have devoted all my time and effort into looking after my four children, running my home and agonising over whether I made the right decision at the dawn of the new millennium. Up until then, I knew the stresses of the workplace as well as anyone else, and yet the fact I apparently ‘bowed out’ of the rat race to become...

The other day, my daughter Lucy’s pet fish died. There I was happily cleaning out the fish tank and when I went to put the fish back in, I noticed it wasn’t moving. At all. Yikes! I’ve never had a fish before so I immediately went into panic mode. I didn’t want Lucy to be upset, as I just couldn’t face the drama. Plus we were due to drive to Tipperary that afternoon and I would have had...

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...

“Are you sorted? What are your plans? Have you sorted Caoimhe? What are you going to wear? We are heading for dinner tonight to check out the restaurant before we book. Where have you booked? Are you getting your make-up done as well as your hair?” I have been trying to avoid these currently abundant conversations because, well, my daughter is not in fact getting married - she is eight years...

The two-year-old has discovered the furious joy of The Terrible Twos. An offer of assistance with putting on shoes will be met with a full blown, foot-kicking, floor-lying, fist-thumping melt down. Putting on pyjamas? Similar reaction. Getting into the car seat? That requires 10 minutes of reasoning, followed by a few threats about future withdrawal of travel rights and an almighty effort to hold...

So breastfeeding has made the news again. Any time I read a new headline on the subject, a little wave of anger washes over me. There are never any warm, fuzzy breastfeeding news stories; rather they tend to vacillate between militant and despotic. Of course it is important to acknowledge the benefits of any scientifically proven feeding regime, be it breastfeeding, or low-fat diets or whatever. I...