By Louise Flanagan The Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle exams are looming large on the horizon. As a secondary school teacher, I’ve heard many parents say they feel as though they’re doing the exams again themselves, what with the LC or JC having consumed the whole house. While we can’t take the tests for them, […]
Miscarriage – I found so much comfort knowing I was not alone
May is the month when I reflect most on my journey to motherhood. It is the month when my first pregnancy ended in miscarriage at 18 weeks back in 2012. Thankfully as the years have passed, the heartache has eased significantly. I have since been blessed with three children and my heart is full. But […]
PARENTING COLUMN: Speed at which changes to Leaving Cert are being introduced is alarming
Over 20 years on, I still have recurring nightmares about my Leaving Cert maths exam. Sometimes, I even have one of those weird dreams where you know it’s a dream but you still have to go through the motions: ‘It’s ok, Louise, it’s just a dream. You’re 41 now and Leaving Cert maths actually went […]
PARENTING: Sometimes the most difficult question of all to answer is ‘Why?’
By Louise Flanagan The way that Trump and his crony JD Vance barked at Vladimir Zelensky last weekend was a televised atrocity. Like anyone else with a brain cell, I was truly horrified to watch such a display of bullying and bigotry unfold – and in the Oval Office, of all unfathomable places. My kids […]
PARENTING: What to do about Verrucas
Verrucas are such pesky things to deal with. What’s more, they seem to be very common among children. People don’t really talk about them, given that verrucas are hidden away on the soles of their little feet, but they are rife among children. It’s a battle we’re fighting in my own house at the moment. […]
Teaching children is more than reading and writing
It goes without saying that parents want the best for their children. We hope they’ll thrive in all they do. When our children encounter academic difficulties, it can be tricky to navigate. How much should we expect from the child? There can be a fine line between being a supportive parent and a pushy parent, […]
Parenting Column: Discovering that your child’s friend vapes
By Louise Flanagan My oldest child is eleven years old and I can feel the pull of her friends starting to take hold. She has a great bunch of pals and I know that leaning more on them is a natural part of growing up. However, there seems to be a general consensus that for […]
PARENTING: When the time comes to wind back on your child’s dodo
By: Louise Flanagan ALL three of my kids loved their dodo when they were tots. At the baby stage, a dodo was omnipresent; I wouldn’t have left the house unless I had at least two with me. Only an amateur would put themselves in the precarious position of relying on just one. As they got […]
PARENTING COLUMN: The Hot School Meals programme – is it working for you?
By Louise Flanagan Last year, I wrote a column about how tricky and annoying it was to pack a school lunch for my kids. Between them turning their noses up at various options to the cost it added to the weekly grocery bill, I really struggled with the lunchbox. Then, low and behold, the government […]
Parenting column: Offering some useful parenting advice in just four words
By Louise Flanagan A few days ago, I saw a post on social media asking for people to comment with four words that capture their best parenting advice. There was actually some pretty solid advice offered; albeit there were humorous responses in the mix too, such as ‘Keep stocked in wine’. Of the sensible answers, […]