Paw Patrol is banned in DCU associate professor and former Rose of Tralee, Aoibhinn Ni Shúilleabháin’s house.
Because those super hero puppies are problematic in a couple of ways, she tells me, on the latest episode of the Conversations with Parents podcast.
She’s highly aware of the sexism that exists across children’s television and movies - and she’s seen it evidenced in how her sons have perceived things, such as girls not being able to play football.
“They don’t think it about maths obviously in our house, but other stuff seeps in”.
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Aoibhinn, who has three children, thought she’d be “surrounded by boys” for her whole life.
“Because I have five brothers. And then I had my two boys, and I was just like, ‘well, obviously, if we go again, it’ll be another boy’” the DCU associate professor and former Rose of Tralee explains.
But she didn’t have another boy – she had a baby girl and she tells me why she was nervous about having a daughter.
Aoibhinn is a self-confessed “control freak”.
She explains how it played a part in her desire for a home birth, and how it all played out.
She also discusses hyperemesis during pregnancy and the huge impact it had on both her physical and mental health.
“I was so sick I was vomiting blood, because all you’re doing is getting sick all the time”, she explains.
“It affects your mental health, because you’re just like ‘I’m such a crap mother’”.
As a new mum Aoibhinn had to deal with a workplace harassment criminal case.
“A stalker basically who was also working where I was working,” she explains.
She discusses the challenges of trying to deal with a court case as a new mother.
“It was a criminal case... it came to court when Naoise was eight or nine months and the detective rang me to ask me if I wanted to make a victim impact statement and I was like ‘no way am I bringing my son into this space’ so I just said no... I didn’t feel like I had the personal strength.”
Sadly Aoibhinn had a miscarriage before the birth of her daughter Doireann.
She talks about trying to get over the loss, and told me why she was glad she had told people that she was pregnant, early.
Aoibhinn opens up about her difficulties breastfeeding, and reveals how television ads lead her to believe it was time to stop breastfeeding her son.
Her children were combination fed both breastmilk and formula she explains.
She’s a huge supporter of women making the choice that suits them but cautions “so much money goes into marketing formula. And formula companies are there for profits”.
“Our Public Health System needs to be bolstered to support the women who want to breastfeed, because they’re up against a multi-million dollar companies who are out there to make millions of dollars. And I do think there’s a huge amount of ethics in it as well… we export a lot of that to countries that do not provide maternity for their women. Women’s rights are human rights and if there are places that don’t have these same rights, what is our role in actually supporting that?”
Aoibhinn is a former secondary school teacher and she believes children need boundaries.
“I am one of those parents who if kids are acting up, in a party or a play zone, I’m like, ‘Excuse me. That is not allowed’.
She explains why she feels children need more of this.
She discusses how having children has inspired her in her environmental work and advocacy.
Plus she takes our quick fire round to see how much she knows about the things she should know!
You can listen to this episode of Conversations with Parents on the link above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Make sure you never miss an episode by following Conversations with Parents on your podcast app.
Presented by Jen Hogan. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.
Brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk.
