‘I don’t have a wall around me, I have an electric fence’
Feelings of isolation can emerge for parents as children grow up, become more independent and begin to leave home
Parents
A parent’s guide to helping your children start college life
‘Almost 4,500 every year in Ireland do not progress from year one to year two … There’s a lot of unhappy students and parents’
I’ve had many arguments with my husband - but this was the first wearing a harness
For once, I want to be the can-do parent who joins in instead of sitting on the sidelines eating crisps and taking photos
Despite having 11 kids and 20 grandkids, my Dad’s favourite children are his dogs
My father tires of me asking whether dogs should eat so much human food, and rejects any accusation he’s gone soft
Photographing the first day of school will freeze the moment but not the memory
Remembering is an active process. Each time we revisit an event, we reconstruct it
The clock is ticking down to when I’ll walk through the door and no one is asking ‘what’s for dinner’
Nobody ever received a phone call from me to suggest unscheduled sleepovers because our kids were ‘just having so much fun’
‘Sending just one secondary school child back to school could cost more than €1,000′
Conor Pope’s guide to surviving the September squeeze on your finances
Feeling depressed or anxious? Focus on what you love and what gives you purpose
As global crises intensify, it is important is to find what you are called to do in response
‘There is no such thing’: what if the ageing crisis narrative is wrong?
Ratio of retirees to workers is rapidly increasing but for some economists that won’t be as big a problem as has been feared
Back-to-school issues: the best starting age, PE problems, school refusal and teenage vapes
Conversations with Parents: A panel of experts convenes to discuss the big issues of modern schooling and parenting
‘I don’t like you, I like Mummy,’ my daughter says with such vehemence that my son holds my hand
My daughter prefers her mother to me so much that to suggest anything else really would be laughable
Ireland’s childcare black spots: ‘I have knocked at every creche door. I don’t want to quit my job’
Rachana Nagaraja was told she ‘might have a chance next September’ – ‘and I think that’s because I cried’
When faced by a crisis, there is nothing worse than feeling you have no control
Constant exposure to trauma and tragedy can distress and traumatise us, or make us feel guilty as ‘bystanders’
Calls to examine additional parent’s leave for births of twins and triplets
Cork North West Deputy John Paul O’Shea said current arrangements do not adequately reflect additional demands placed on families
The Anchoress: ‘The moment I shared that I was a mother, people treated me differently’
Unresolved trauma is to the fore on As We Once Were, the new album by Welsh songwriter Catherine Anne Davies
Camping in Ireland: Holiday for less than €500 a week for a family of four
With prices starting as low as €15 a night, the camping and caravanning sector is enjoying a long, hot summer
Talk to any mother trying to manage the summer juggle and you’ll hear ‘exhausted’ and ‘frazzled’
I’m also experiencing a familiar unease at the thought of the return to school
Life as a twin: ‘My mother had myself and my twin sister when she was 37. I had my twins at 37’
To mark International Twins Day we spoke to twins and parents of twins, including a woman who has given birth to three sets
France accepts that parents have a right to leisure. We should do the same
I felt guilty for using the kids’ club, but I shouldn’t have
The importance of understanding and accepting our feelings
Part 1: Managing our mental health in the face of personal and global crisis
First ever review of childcare fees to target creches overcharging parents
Department of Children says local authorities will check whether creches are breaching funding deal to freeze fees at 2021 levels
Should young people with a part-time job contribute to the household budget?
Are we doing young people a disservice if we don’t expect them to contribute once they’re earning?
I brought my three boys from England to Sligo to replicate my childhood summer holidays
They loved it: the turf sheds, the Tayto, adults pressing five and 10-euro notes into their hands and the dozens of cousins
How can new parents be better prepared for the impact of sleep deprivation?
Sleepless nights are a harsh lesson in how parents’ lives have to adapt to their baby’s needs
How new parents can improve wellbeing and reduce tiredness
Couples may see bed-sharing as sacrosanct, but some nights apart could save their sanity
‘My 12-year-old son is very reluctant to try anything new’
Ask the Expert: Anxiety usually means a child wants to do something but is stressed about some aspect of this
Holidaying as a single parent: ‘I was conscious of the tables with fathers getting served faster’
Lone parents explain why family holidays need to reflect modern family life, from cost and childcare to confidence and inclusion
‘I love my four adult children deeply, but they won’t leave home, and I am desperate’
Tell Me About It: ‘I’ve told my partner I am not going to retire. Work might save my sanity’
Are school mum friends real friends?: ‘They all disappeared’
A pal of mine was lamenting how contact with mothers of her children’s schoolfriends had dried up. So I solicited other mothers’ experiences
‘My six-year-old girl freezes when people talk to her’
Ask the Expert: ‘She is completely different from her outgoing brother, and I’m worried about her’
Leaving Cert holidays: ‘If you unwisely decide to get a tattoo, please check all spellings with me first’
Jen Hogan shares parenting tips and tricks she has learned along the Leaving Cert holiday way
‘An identity earthquake’: The biological and psychological impact of fatherhood on men
Patrescence, the physical and mental transition to becoming a dad, is a recent concept recognising the isolation men can sometimes feel in fatherhood
Porn before puberty in Ireland: ‘It is horrible, and it’s in every school’
Half of schoolchildren have seen pornography by age of 13, including ‘very, very disturbing images’. Is there a case for a UK-style social media ban for under-16s?
‘You’re almost an afterthought’: Five men on how fatherhood has transformed their lives
From their sense of selves to their social lives and their relationships with their partners, six dads discuss the differences having children made to their lives
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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