This month I will light four candles to remember our four lost babiesOne in four pregnancies ends this way, robbing a pregnancy of its innocenceMon Oct 12 2020 - 06:01
Matt Cooper: ‘I didn’t desire to have a big family, it just sort of happened’Parenting in my shoes: the journalist, broadcaster and father of five gets ‘enormous enjoyment from being with my children’Tue Oct 06 2020 - 06:01
Parentpreneurs: How having children changed our careers and our home-livesParenthood saw these people move from finance to midwifery, farm sales to SNASun Oct 04 2020 - 06:00
Talk of Halloween is a welcome distraction but how will it work this year?To keep the kids’ spirits high, I’ve looked to the future instead of living in the nowMon Sept 28 2020 - 06:01
Eileen Flynn: ‘As a Traveller woman, I was undermined in the maternity hospital’Parenting in my shoes: The Senator hopes her daughter will be part of a more positive, inclusive IrelandTue Sept 22 2020 - 06:01
Biggest change to our school day routine: homework gone for now‘I dared to dream it might happen ... that school books would not come home’Mon Sept 14 2020 - 06:01
Joanna Donnelly: ‘I had seven miscarriages . . . I was absolutely furious all the time’The meteorologist and mother has set up a charity that helps women pay for IVFTue Sept 08 2020 - 06:01
‘For the first time in 19 years, all of my children will be in formal education’There will be no more very first days of school. All is as should be, but it stings a little all the sameMon Sept 07 2020 - 06:01
‘We were absolutely heartbroken’: Munster’s Billy Holland on the death of his babyParenting in my Shoes: The rugby player tells of the pain he and his wife felt when their daughter Emmeline diedTue Sept 01 2020 - 06:01
Victoria Smurfit: ‘Postnatal depression is very real. You feel crazy’Parenting in my Shoes: ‘You’re in survival mode because it’s wrong to be told you can’t fix something for somebody’Wed Aug 26 2020 - 06:01
Schools reopening have me lying awake at night – againJust getting the children to school will require military planning and a lot of luckMon Aug 24 2020 - 06:01
Calling all Victor Meldrews: stop blaming the teensThe thing about sweeping generalisations is that they can rarely be relied uponTue Aug 18 2020 - 06:01
Keith Walsh: ‘My wife and kids would be having the craic, and I felt like an outsider’Parenting in my Shoes: The radio host’s only parenting regret is not starting therapy earlierMon Aug 17 2020 - 06:01
Covid-19: The fallout for families has been immeasurable‘Are you excited to return to school?’ I asked the kids. Their reactions surprised meWed Aug 12 2020 - 06:01
Senator Lynn Ruane: I had a few wild years. Pregnancy calmed me downParenting in my Shoes: ‘I hope the girls continue the journey they’re on. I’m so impressed’Tue Aug 11 2020 - 06:01
Vicky Phelan: ‘I do try and have the conversations to try and prepare them for what’s going to come’From the Irish Times archive: The women’s health advocate on parenthood and how she told her children about her terminal cancer, from our Parenting in My Shoes seriesTue Aug 04 2020 - 06:01
I have a socially unacceptable number of children – and I love itMy eternal broodiness was triggered by a car packing in and my youngest starting schoolSun Jul 26 2020 - 06:01
Destination normal for this year’s family holidayWe had a staycation in the purest sense of the word. It was escapism at its finestTue Jul 21 2020 - 06:01
I’m only starting to realise how much the pandemic affected my childrenThe new normal is plagued with uncertainty and it’s very unsettlingMon Jul 13 2020 - 09:10
My husband had to become my carer after we had our son. I was diagnosed at 26Social Democrats vice-chairwoman Evie Nevin on life with a rare genetic conditionTue Jul 07 2020 - 06:00
It’s our 20th wedding anniversary. I wonder will he rememberSeven children later, we have time to celebrate our anniversary – if he doesn’t forgetMon Jul 06 2020 - 06:00
Covid-19: Post-coronavirus syndrome is ‘absolutely a real thing’What does recovery look like, and why are some people more affected than others?Tue Jun 30 2020 - 06:01
If I was to be graded on my homeschooling efforts it would be an ‘F’Parents were left with an impossible ask yet I can’t help but feel I’ve let my kids downMon Jun 22 2020 - 06:01
The struggle frontline workers face in trying to juggle work and family life‘We’ve now been flying solo for weeks with no outside support. There has been tough times’Wed Jun 10 2020 - 06:01
Missing banter and coffee breaks with colleagues? I amMothers working from home have to grapple with pressures of childcare and intrusionMon Jun 08 2020 - 06:01
The subtle signs that point the way towards haemochromatosisExcess iron retention can lead to symptoms including chronic fatigue and aching jointsTue Jun 02 2020 - 06:01
It’s been a surreal few weeks during the coronavirus lockdownAn inability to tackle the boy’s untamed tresses bring him joy, and gratitude it appearsMon May 25 2020 - 06:01
Coronavirus: I want the facts, but I need hope to get through thisI fear my trouble sleeping may be a result of absorbing too much bad newsMon May 18 2020 - 06:01
Children have had little choice but to take the lockdown on the chin and are making huge sacrificesTo miss rites of passage that come with the final months in primary and secondary school is very difficultMon May 11 2020 - 06:01
Children’s charity makes appeal for funds to keep it moving forwardBUMBLEance was set up by Tony and Mary Heffernan, whose children Saoirse and Liam both died from Batten diseaseTue May 05 2020 - 11:30
Lockdown is hard on the kids – even the adult onesMy children haven’t seen their grandparents for months at this stageMon May 04 2020 - 06:01
Parenting during lockdown: ‘Surviving continues to be the name of the game’In any given day, there are 3 million questions to answer, 6,328 rows to break up and one restriction-complying walkTue Apr 28 2020 - 06:01
Patience can wear thin with all this family timeWe’re past pretending we have it under control. It’s a jungle out there – and the kids are feralMon Apr 20 2020 - 06:01
Coronavirus: Please don’t make my children feel unwelcome in your shopLots of us have to bring them with us. And tensions are high enough alreadyTue Apr 14 2020 - 06:01
Coronavirus lockdown reveals the very best of us, as well as our ‘shadow side’The pandemic can bring our nearest and dearest too close for comfortSun Apr 12 2020 - 06:01
It’s day #268 in the Big Mother household and I can’t moveLaughter erupts as the kids watch me collapse while trying ‘PE with Joe Wicks’Mon Apr 06 2020 - 06:01
Coronavirus: All rules go out the window as ‘needs must’ takes overWith all of us at home, we’re all going to need to mind each other through this uncertain timeTue Mar 24 2020 - 06:01
Don’t tell my children, but I speak to strangers online on a daily basisAs real-life meet-ups with adults take a back seat, online relationships have been a lifelineMon Mar 09 2020 - 06:01
‘We were going to pay off the mortgage, enjoy life. Then my wife had a catastrophic stroke’Life as a carer: John Bergin cares for his wife, who had a catastrophic stroke which affected 50% of her brainThu Mar 05 2020 - 06:01
Life as a carer: ‘If we really love somebody, we can do anything for them’Marcin Filak cares for his wife, who has locked-in syndrome, and their two childrenWed Mar 04 2020 - 06:01
Life as a carer: When a child’s diagnosis means ‘a disease for life’‘We knew we’d need to inject her daily – I never realised the extent of the management’Thu Feb 27 2020 - 06:01
Life as a carer: ‘You are always on high alert’‘I wouldn’t necessarily say you cope with it. For me it’s just about getting through the day’Wed Feb 26 2020 - 06:01
Trying to find a holiday for my brood is making me despairI wasn’t quite prepared for the recoiling in horror when innocent enquiries were made about our optionsMon Feb 24 2020 - 06:01
Carrying out acts of kindness is a type of homework I can get behindAn end to primary school homework would allow families to spend more time togetherWed Feb 12 2020 - 06:01
Life as a carer: ‘Crumlin hospital don’t ring you on Saturday morning for no good reason’With her daughter seriously ill, Ciara Reid left work. The family now face mounting financial costsThu Feb 06 2020 - 06:01
Life as a carer: ‘It doesn’t feel natural that you become your mam’s mam’Martina Murphy discusses the challenges of caring for both her son and motherWed Feb 05 2020 - 06:01
I have no desire to watch Love Island with my teenagers‘The mammy in me feels a need to constantly point out the wrongs and rights of it all to my offspring’Fri Jan 31 2020 - 06:01
Mother had to fundraise to get palliative care for her dying six-year-old daughterMother of child who needs 24-hour care says she feels ‘let down by the system’Thu Jan 30 2020 - 05:01
‘Some of us dream of being in hospital as it would give us a break from caring’Mother tells of difficulties she faces as a lone parent caring for her severely disabled sonWed Jan 29 2020 - 06:01
Life as a carer: ‘If something happens to me, what will happen to my girls?’Lynn McDonald on the relentless challenges when your child has a life-limiting conditionMon Jan 27 2020 - 06:00
