Last week my son moved up from the Junior to Senior Montessori classroom. These spiders for Halloween were among some of the last art projects he did before the move. I am endlessly fascinated by 1) how the teachers manage to get the toddlers to do such neat work and 2) how his hands are…
Yesterday I mentioned that sometimes I have endless patience as a parent in situations that should by all rights leave me tearing my hair out. Today was not one of those times. Neither is my writing cooperating with me today, with my half-written post intended for today not coming together the way I want it…
I’ve come to realise that there are some parenting things I’m surprisingly good at. For example, I have discovered that sometimes I seem to tap some secret, bottomless well of patience in circumstances where, some inner detached part of me observes, I should by all rights be losing the plot and tearing my hair out.…
Me: *critically examines own fingernails* Why won’t my nails grow faster? Also me, an hour later: *balances precariously on the edge of toddler’s cot, ignoring the uncomfortable edge of the bed rail under my backside and the drool around the flashlight in my mouth, leans in further, trying to crane neck at a 90 degree angle…
I have an old teddy bear that’s travelled all over with me since a a close friend of mine gifted it to me for Valentine’s Day my second year of high school. That makes Teddy old enough to drink in America and run for public office in Ireland. He’s even had at least one heart…
Today’s parenting lesson: it’s harder to cut a three year old’s hair than a two year old’s hair. Example A above – I didn’t choose to do this while sitting cross-legged on the floor of the kitchen with the kid in my lap, fully dressed, because in thought it would be comfortable. Let’s just chalk…
Today we had our first visit to the dentist with Hawkeye. There was no specific need behind it, just the idea of exposing him to going to the dentist, reminding him about the importance of brushing his teeth, and making sure there was nothing blindingly obvious going on inside his mouth that we weren’t aware…
The theme of the weekend is clearly word play, whether drunk or sober. One of Hawkeye’s long time favourite toys is his tool box set from IKEA. The IKEA DUKTIG range is everywhere. Aside from owning one, I have run across the main kitchen unit in our creche, in waiting rooms, in various public play…
There’s too much going on, too much to do, too much work and generally not enough sleep. So instead of a proper post, I dug out an older video I forgot to post on my Facebook back in September when I first filmed it. It was a relatively cold yet clear day and Nana brought…
Halloween is around the corner and the decorations, pumpkins, costumes, spiderwebs, and all sorts of other spooky things are going up thick and fast. Our office canteen got in on the action this year with home made baked goodies. There were Bat Brownies, Peanut Butter Spider Cookies, and my absolute favourites – Homicide Biscuits. The…
Yes, we all survived the storm-once-known-as-Hurricane Ophelia, though the disruption to the whole country has been fairly massive, even in areas where there was little more than a few downed trees from the wind. Schools were once again closed across the country today from an overabundance of caution, to allow for checking of any potential…
The Feathered Rose 