Every January, I have great plans for how wonderful the year ahead is going to be. They usually involve a multitude of new projects that encompass all sorts of areas and include the whole family. One year, I made out a detailed list about how all aspects of a person’s life need to be attended…
My late father never got into too much of a fuss about Christmas. While the rest of us were dashing around like headless chickens, he always seemed to be his usual serene self. Whether his Christmas presents cost the earth or the offering was just a humble pair of socks or a scarf, his reaction…
A Parent’s Perspective My 11 year old daughter has been using pester power for several years now to encourage me to get her a pet. My 16-year-old was also on the case, presenting me with appealing Facebook pictures of cute, furry kittens and crazy cat antics on YouTube. My husband and I discussed it…
My eldest son was unimpressed when, as a small boy, I insisted that he gave up his seat on the bus. He argued strongly about how unfair it was that children were viewed as second class citizens and how adults should be well able to stand on their strong legs. Safety wasn’t such a priority…
Most of us love sharing pictures on social media whether it’s a family party, a child’s first day at school, a First Communion or some other memorable occasion. I love photography and, since I was a little girl, I was fascinated by the idea of capturing moments in time that you could look back on…
A Parent’s Perspective Last week my family and I attended the fifth session of the annual Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Every week, there’s a different guest speaker and, on this evening, it was Kathleen Chada, the mother of Eoghan and Ruairi Chada, whose husband received two life sentences for the murder of…
My 17-year-old daughter got her first part time job recently and will be 18 years old soon. In many ways I’m still back a decade ago remembering a daughter who followed me everywhere, thought her mother was the best thing since sliced bread and loved jumping into my bed for a chat and cuddle. Before…
A Parent’s Perspective According to The Good Retreat Guide, a retreat is a journey that can be religious or spiritual in nature, and is typically taken away from the confines of everyday living. Its purpose is to get closer to God and to rediscover one’s faith. Some adults will go on a retreat every few…
It’s not until something goes wrong or breaks that we realise how much we miss it. This week everything in our house seemed to be giving up the ghost: the heating packed in with a worst case scenario of some sort of expansion tank having burst; we failed our NCT and, disaster of all disasters…
When I was a child, both my parents were in the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. Thirty or 40 years ago, almost everyone in Ireland knew about the Pioneers and a fair few were members. I’d guess that if you mentioned the Association to a group of young people today, there’d be a few blank expressions.…