I’ve been a little absent on here recently, I had anticipated posting while in England on holidays but the combination of heat and an ever expanding waistline just took it out of me. Couple that with trying to be present with my whole family surrounding me it felt right to put the phone away and just play, paddle in the pool, eat cream teas and read. Continue reading
This is a question that to be honest I rarely ask myself mainly because the answer is usually no. On the face of I might pull my hair together on occasion or I like to do my tan but there is another kind of wellness that I think more of us need to pay attention to. When Kira Walton, co-founder of Voya, touched base with me regarding Global Wellness Day, a not for profit day that she is heading up here in Ireland, I was intrigued. Continue reading
While I was working I usually got in the door at about 5.30 and had dinner on the table for 6.10. Any later than that and it wouldn’t have been fair on the girls eating so close to bedtime. We did go through a phase of making dinner the evening before but to be honest it felt like there was no break from cooking, heating etc that we stopped bothering with that. And I know lots of people stock pile dinners at the weekends but I found time so precious at the weekends that I wasn’t interested in spending the weekend slaving over the cooker. So it came down to speed cooking in the evenings and it actually worked quite well. So here are some of the tips that worked for us. Continue reading
I should preface this by saying I’m not going to update this every week with a low down on how thing as a stay at home mum are going. But for the fun of it I’ll do one update. I’m a week in, and it’s much like being on maternity leave BUT without a tiny baby and distinctly more sleep and sanity. It’s been a truly lovely week and it’s been so busy! It’s been the simple things I’ve enjoyed the most, showers at 10.30am, the quiet satisfaction of having a nice dinner on the table that I had the time to make using a cook book, the giggles, jumping in muddy puddles and being on top of the washing come Saturday morning. Continue reading
One of my favourite things to do at home is to steal away for a half hour, treat myself to a little indulgence and pamper myself. The bulk of this is basically spent by passing about 20 minutes in a roasting hot shower just enjoying the peace and quiet. But I also like to be productive so I try to do a hair mask once a week. I’m still struggling to get my hair and head back to normal after using the Aussie range of shampoos for far too long, they totally and utterly dried out both my hair and scalp. I’m using the Mane N Tail Deep Moisturising shampoo and conditioner now and have definitely seen a huge improvement. Continue reading
It’s not often I would pass comment on skincare products mere weeks are buying them online but I’m so blown away by the three products I bought from Nip + Fab (or Nip and Fab) I feel compelled to comment. The change in weather temperatures coupled with the fact that I basically sit between a burning radiator and a drafty window my skin has gone so weird the past couple of weeks. Throw in some typically female hormones and a bit of ‘finishing up work’ stress and you’ve got a recipe for skincare disaster. Continue reading
We drive in the car a lot. We try and visit family regularly who live either 4 hours away by car alone or 7 hours in the car plus a boat journey. And we drive a lot everyday of the week to the childminders and back so I’d like to think I’m a safe driver with all the practice I have. My husband commutes to work but he does this alone. To be honest sometimes I find myself half jealous of him heading off into an hour long commute that includes traffic. Why I hear you ask?! Because he gets to have some head space and just listen to the radio. And I’m not the only parent in the world to think that this driving time is his down time, a survey by Chill Insurance recently found that 25% of parents consider driving as their quiet time. Continue reading
When it comes to the small ladies we put every genre of toy in front of them, from farm animals to dolls they have a wide variety.The big lady loves her Barbie’s but jaypers, the clothes the Barbie’s come with leave LITTLE to the imagination. I restyled our Barbie’s by making some midi skirts and proper tops with my sewing machine so that she resembles an upstanding citizen. And then I discovered the Lottie Dolls and my interest was piqued. I especially LOVE the selection of Dolls that fall under the remit of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). We really encourage counting and maths in our house (we cant help it!) so much so that the big lady literally counted the teeth in my mouth last night as I put her to bed.
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Most mums don’t have much free time, believe me I know. They’re always busy doing something, and more often than not, they’re busy doing something for someone else in the family or for work. It’s not unusual for some mums to spend the whole day in a blur, and then get to the end of the day realising there’s still stuff left to do. And then all you have the energy to do is flop into bed! Continue reading
This article was first published here at familyfriendlyhq.com
When I had my first baby I have to admit I relied on the soother probably more than I should have. I was clueless so I used it to sooth her during the time it took me to figure out what was actually wrong with her. Two weeks into a difficult breastfeeding experience the Nurse advised me to the use the soother so that the baby wasn’t using me to sooth herself. Some investigation of the pros heralded the following answers which included, apart from the obvious calming effect, the use of soothers has been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS in babies under 6 months and that sucking, especially for preterm babies, promotes oral muscle development. So while the pros are brilliant and soothers work well where needed, there comes a time when it simply has to go. This throws up two important questions – firstly, when is the best time and second, how do I go about doing it? Continue reading
