Blog List

Ask any mum and they’ll tell you that being a mum is the toughest job you’ll ever have. Whether you’re a stay-at-home mum or you work outside the home, it’s all hard work. I know; I’ve tried doing both! After my maternity leave ended, I worked part time, but after paying for childcare, I came out with about €70 a week. Next I went back into full time work, not because I wanted to, but...

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...

There are times when my kids leave me with the unavoidable impression that one of their main aims in life is to make mine as difficult as possible. You may have had similar experiences yourself. Your teen announces he needs a set square for technical graphics (formerly known as mechanical drawing), and you enquire as to the date this equipment is required, only to be told that said set square...

Hugging does not come naturally to me. Our family were never big huggers. Don‘t get me wrong - we were close growing up and even closer now as adults; however, when it comes to hugs, we just don't do them. I thought this was totally normal behaviour for a child growing up in the 80s, but then I met my husband's family. They hug each other all the time. ALL THE TIME. And they also tell...

So let’s have a discussion about the midterm. Yes, the dreaded M-word: the bane of all our lives whether you are working or not. Stay-at-home mums have to deal with kids disrupting a carefully organised schedule that has taken a long time to get right, while working mums have the horror of trying to figure out the logistics of who is going to mind the kids while they are at work. And the fact...

Neither Grace nor Joshua would go to sleep on Sunday night. Instead of feeling like the mother of a toddler and a six-year-old, I felt like the mum of two wailing newborns and honestly, I didn’t know what to do. It was like we were the only three people on the face of the planet not sleeping at that moment. With my husband away for the weekend, I didn’t even have the luxury of performing the...

Mum-of-one and all round amazing human being, Katie Piper, recently congratulated her daughter on taking her first tentative steps. It reminded me of my daughter Ella’s big achievement in that regard and I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t quite share Katie’s enthusiasm. Don’t get me wrong. Yes, I was overjoyed by my daughter’s progress and I was proud beyond belief that Ella had managed...

So, let’s chat about Kim Kardashian and her latest mothering ‘mistake’. I know, I know. We’re all sick of talking about her, and God knows if I hear anything else about her egomaniacal husband I’ll blow a gasket, but I feel her recent move deserves a little consideration. And by consideration, I don’t mean we should mull over it for a moment before condemning her to the fiery hell of...

My 12-year-old daughter Rebecca came home from school the other day in a state of mild distress. Forlorn, morose and appearing in desperate need of a hug, she finally admitted that she felt ‘left out’ by her friends. I doubt there are many women out there who have made it to adulthood and not experienced the twinge of hurt that can accompany this feeling of isolation. Whether it happened in...

Many of us like to think a Bring your Child to Work Day would be the perfect way to balance out our working and family life (although some might relish the time outside of the home – it is definitely a lot less stressful!) But at the European Parliament, every day is a Bring your Child to Work Day, thanks to MEP Licia Ronzulli. When the Italian MEP brought her six-week-old daughter, Vittoria...