Parenting | The Irish Times

Genevieve, Arthur and Louis on the beach in Valencia, Spain

On holiday with small children: Perfecting the art of ‘active’ relaxing

We were hoping to stick with our usual travel goals – experiencing food and culture of a new place while exploring and relaxing

Are your eyes glued to slime too?

Before 2015 . . . nothing. 2016, slime-based queries begin to rise. Then, 2017, boom: slime explosion

Volunteer Jackie Tracey with patient Laura Fabris at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin

‘You want to care for children but you spend all day hurting them’

Working in paediatrics brings a ‘whole whirlpool of feelings’ that need to be supported within the hospital system, believes consultant psychologist Barbara Wren

Jennifer Ryan with her four-year-old son Harry

‘What happens when I die, mama?’ – explaining the inexplicable

Is honesty the best policy when fielding questions from a pre-schooler about death?

Children

Focusing on the shyness can inadvertently make a child think something might be wrong with them. Photograph: iStockphoto

How to encourage your child’s potential . . . from toddler to teen

Saying ‘don’t be shy’ or ‘has the cat got your tongue?’ can increase his anxiety

Teenagers

For teenagers, bereavement can be particularly difficult to come to terms with. Photograph: iStockphoto

Ask the expert: Our daughter is struggling since the death of a classmate

She is struggling to get a proper night’s sleep and is very anxious before going to bed

Toddlers

Sleep training requires a lot of patience and does not yield immediate results. Photograph: Thinkstock

Ask the expert: How do we get a toddler to sleep all night?

If you have a parenting query, send your question to health@irishtimes.com

Babies

Pixie McKenna: ‘In an ideal world, if you can cook something, great. It’s cheaper, it’s more convenient, you can batch-cook and, ultimately, as you go through the stages, you can all eat the same thing, which is really important.’

Pixie McKenna on weaning: ‘I hadn’t a clue’

‘Dr Pixie’s First Foods’ examines weaning and babies’ first food recipes . . . sugar included

Relationships

As one of my boys is 12 and prepubescent, I’m concerned about telling him about his dad before he has established his own sexual identity. Photograph: Thinkstock

Ask the Expert: How do I tell my sons their father is bisexual?

John Sharry helps solve your parenting problems. Send your queries to health@irishtimes.com

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Spain has a Double Tax Agreement with Ireland

If I receive my Irish pension in Spain, will I have to pay tax?

The sun is shining so it is time to light the barbecue and start cooking outdoors. Photograph: iStock.

Get your grill on: It’s finally time to barbecue

A fairy fort, with corn stooks of four sheaves each, in Loughinisland, Co Down, in 1962. Photograph: Michael J Murphy/duchas.ie

Ireland’s darkest, oddest and weirdest secrets uncovered

I asked her, ‘Don’t you ever wonder what is the point in a day of action on plastic packaging when you can’t buy a cucumber without a condom on it?’

Mindy O’Brien’s 10 tips for reducing the use of plastic

Nicole O’Sullivan has been working in Stockholm for two and a half years.

‘In Sweden you don't have to deal with men cat-calling you in the street’

Michael Brown: ‘You never switch off in this job but I love it’

Meet the Limerick man who’s the head of security at UN HQ New York

Clunk click: wearing your seat belt will help protect you from turbulence during a flight. Photograph: iStock/Getty

Aircraft seat belts: friend or foe?

Britain’s Prince Harry and his fiancee US actress Meghan Markle arrive at the Commonwealth Youth Forum in central London. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

How to dress like Meghan Markle for suddenly-warm-weather

College bound? Sean Rogers with son Eoin

American high school has made my boy a problem solver

Girls enjoying their experiments at the Real Party Kids Science party in Dundrum, Co Dublin.

My daughters want blow torches and feminist badges for their birthday

Real news has value

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