Blog List

This time 24 hours ago I was being prepped for my gall bladder to be removed. Being in the operating theatre brought back memories to fourteen months ago, but what a different experience this time around was. Firstly, the operating theatre was empty and I was just being prepped by three staff and it was all very quiet and calm. However, I definitely felt more anxious about having to be put under...

A night terror comes to me every evening, at the same time. This night terror is four and no longer wishes to spend the whole night in her own bed... my daughter is depleting my brain cells, one broken night of sleep at a time. The problem started on our camping holiday in France whereby the child became accustomed to sharing a tent with one of us - whoever had gotten the shortest straw. She...

High-intensity interval training (HIIT), also called high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) or sprint interval training (SIT), is a form of interval training, an exercise strategy alternating short periods of intense anaerobic exercise with less-intense recovery periods. So what is HIIT? HIIT is a form of cardiovascular exercise, and can be applied to running or to exercises such as...

It’s hard to believe that the tiny baby you bring into the world will one day grow up and need you less and less. And we began to have a little taste of that recently, when my daughter started school. I think I’m kind of still in shock about it, actually. One minute she was a teeny, red-faced little infant, and what seems like two minutes later she’s trotting off in her uniform with her...

I don’t usually give much thought to the pictures of jubilant teenagers on the front of newspapers every August and September, except to wonder why anybody would do nine exams for their Leaving Cert or 12 Junior Cert subjects... And I will also make a mental note to give Town a wide berth that evening to avoid the reek of fake tan and the sight of several hundred bare legs squeezed into denim...

I look at her in disbelief: how can she be starting preschool? Seriously, I feel like I brought her home from the hospital yesterday... She is wearing an overgrown school uniform of red and navy, and is standing taller than ever, almost beating her chest like a gorilla. She is well chuffed with herself, walking around the house like the queen of her castle. We had a few practice runs to make...

I used to be one of ‘those mums’. You know, the ones that said things like: “Oh, your little one has a dummy? My daughter never needed one, actually.” And I really, truthfully and most genuinely hate myself for ever uttering those judgemental, patronising words to a fellow mum-in-arms. Who was I to judge? My whole sentiment implied that she must not be good at comforting her child if a...

The Olympics may well be over, but after following it this year, what’s impossible to escape about the Games (when you get past the doping and corruption) is the absolute dedication and discipline of each athlete who makes it this far. It is tempting to dismiss the ones that come last in their heats, fall over, or struggle to finish – until you remember that these people make your average...

A healthy diet filled with real food can mean better blood sugar levels, a longer life, better focus, less risk for disease, a healthier heart, better digestion, and a naturally healthy weight that we don’t always have to feel the need to manage. However, the term healthy eating means many different things to just about everyone and not one set meal plan will work for every single individual out...

A new school term approaches, but I am reluctant to buy into the notion of summer being over. Even though I wasn’t on holiday, it feels like a holiday to let sleeping children lie; to not rouse and rout them out of bed to morosely eat cereal and drag themselves onto school buses. It’s luxurious to not panic on Sunday evening about the school uniform, still unwashed, or to not spend three hours...