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’
Parents
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
‘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
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?
Coming from Ireland I initially thought the French way of parenting was selfish
Ça va aller became my not-so-complimentary way of referring to what I felt was the self-absorbed, laissez-faire French style
‘What can we do to help our anxious son through his last exams?’
Ask the Expert: ‘He knows the stuff, but he can panic on the day of exams’
Parents’ stress ‘through the roof’ as Meath creche closes rooms 200 times since October
Mother obliged to change jobs due to necessity to be at home so often to mind daughter
‘It’s relentless’: Mother caring for disabled twin children says respite ‘critical’ for carers
Seventy-one per cent of family carers face financial difficulty, Family Carers Ireland report shows
A quick summer survival guide for parents of Irish teenagers
Jen Hogan: Three months of nothingness lies ahead for some secondary school students
My teenage years: Some of it was fun. A lot of it was traumatic. A good bit of it was illegal
One minute we were drinking flagons of cider in a field, the next we’re wondering what our own children are up to
Marcus O’Laoire: ‘We need to talk more about male fertility’
Conversations with Parents podcast with Jen Hogan
‘My toddler constantly touches her baby sister’s head, sometimes roughly’
Ask the Expert: ‘How can we support her to change this habit while waiting for support from an occupational therapist?’
‘Drama can offer every child an opportunity to explore their imagination’
One expert says when children are playing pretend or acting, they are learning to trust themselves – ‘and that builds confidence and self-esteem’
Inside a Quaker-ethos secondary school in Ireland: ‘There is a high expectation of good behaviour’
There are currently 86 boarders in Newtown School in Waterford City, with more than half from abroad
Jen Hogan’s end-of-year school report: B in cake sales, C+ in WhatsApp, E in lunches
Another school year is almost over. How would you score in your parenting end-of-term report card?
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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