Blog List

Christmas is here and I have all the symptoms: glazed eyes, tight chest, stress dreams, a house full of Sellotape and unwrapped presents hidden under the spare blankets in the hot press. My house is like a Christmas elf half-way house, stuffed with tubes of wrapping paper, cinnamon sticks and unfinished lists. My bank card is worn thin and my credit card is about to be brought out. If I could bear...

It is 9.50pm and my daughter Róisín has just eventually drifted off to sleep in my arms. Just like every night she went to bed at 7pm, but due to the fact she is shattered and overtired she couldn't settle. I treid everything but she just would not give in. Elliot was asleep by 7:10pm, and while Rebecca did not want to sleep either, we eventually got her off at about 8pm. Róisín had other...

It's been fun recently, to watch Channel Four's program The Secret Life of Four Year Olds . The kids were sweet, naughty, vulnerable and hilarious, and the child psychologists that explained typical four-year-old behaviours had me intrigued. But LIVING with a child of this age is different from watching them interact at school. At home they are in their territory, their comfort zone. They...

Exercise during pregnancy is so important: it boosts mood, improves sleep, and reduces aches and pains. It also prepares you for childbirth by strengthening muscles and building endurance, and makes it much easier to get back in shape after your baby is born. However, before you start any form of exercise, especially if it is all new to you, you should consult with your GP. And if you do get the...

At tea break the other day, one of the women I work with recounted the trials she went through to secure a Hatchimal for her daughter for Christmas. (Note to those without children under ten: A Hatchimal is a Furby-like bird that pecks its way out of a plastic egg once it gets attention. More on Furbys below). She did track one down eventually in T.K. Maxx, so now Christmas has been salvaged...

It has finally happened. I’m now going to be almost €200 a year better off. No, its not a pay rise. I haven’t won the lottery either (I wish!). The €200 quid a year is simply the wonderful silver lining of my daughter finally having a totally dry night! I genuinely thought it would never happen. I’ve come to learn - since I had my son - that every child is an entirely different set of...

By the time child number three arrived and helped to redress the gender balance in our house, I felt sure I had mastered the whole parenting lark. I had already endured the terrible twos, threes, and fours with a brace of boys, so raising a girl was going to be fairy cakes and princess costumes all the way. After all, I had been a girl myself in the distant past, so how hard could it be? And, to...

We all know the importance of exercising before, during and after pregnancy to help us maintain a healthy body and mind. In fact, e xercising after giving birth can help with postnatal depression, increase your energy levels and can also help to restore muscle strength, but there are a number of things to consider before you even head out the door for your first run. Apart from giving your body a...

Sunday evening a week before Halloween, the youngest is wearing a witch outfit from Aldi and has been for three days running. She pairs it with one of her two witch hats and spends much of the time lugging a medium sized pumpkin around the house. The eldest is supposedly studying for a French exam, but if I check I expect to find her listening to music and praying for long and drawn out strike...

Every year I think I get more excited than the kids about Halloween - I’ve got the costumes all ready to go. Sadly, I couldn’t convince them all (namely the other half) to agree to being Mary Poppins, Bert and the kids, but they’ve all chosen who they’d like to dress up as and the excitement is building. We’ve also got our spooky decorations up in the house – any excuse to get in the...