10 Ways to Make Christmas Stress Free

Christmas can be a time of great pressure for many parents, meaning that stress can take much of the enjoyment away. It’s important to stop and ask why this is. Is it possible that we’re causing some of it ourselves by not managing expectations – our own and others, including our child’s. Why not aim […]

10 Ways to Develop Play Time with Your Child

Playtime with their parent is very important to children. Making time to sit down on the floor to play together is one of the best things you can do to support their development and your relationship with them. Some parents find it very difficult to value just sitting and playing. Sometimes a parent might even feel a […]

25th Anniversary of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Today is the 25th Anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention was adopted on 20 November 1989 and to date has been ratified by 194 countries making it the most widely ratified international human rights treaty. Ireland signed up in 1992 and is assessed periodically by the […]

10 Ways to Explain an Absent Parent

The term ‘absent parent’ refers to a parent whom a child has never met or has had very little contact with. Note: This is different to a ‘non-resident parent’, ‘non-primary’ or ‘secondary carer’, or when parents co-parent/share parenting of their child. People find themselves parenting alone through a variety of circumstances. It is natural that […]

10 Ways to Achieve Successful Shared Parenting Over Christmas

Christmas doesn’t have to be a difficult time for parents who do not live together and share parenting of their child. There are, of course, things that will need to be worked out. What is most important is to do this well in advance, agreeing to solutions and a plan. Agree your plan now in November, […]