Parenting

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Dr David Coleman: Is a bit of competition good or bad for kids? The answer is actually all down to the parents

Many people suggest that healthy competition is good for children. Proponents of early competitiveness believe that it will prepare children for the cut and thrust of life, which can be competitive. They claim that it teaches children to be resilient and to persevere, as well as helping them to deal with failure and disappointment. It can help children to move out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves and it can help children develop empathy.

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Bill Linnane Opinion It's okay not to get what you want at Christmas… as my kids are going to learn this year

In 1985 Raleigh launched the Vektar cyber bike. With a futuristic design, it had a digital display panel boasting radio, speedometer and a selection of sound effects. To 10-year-old me, it was the greatest thing I had ever seen. This was the future of cycling — a sort of proto eBike, except you did all the work and it just made some noises.

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‘Don’t be so scared and all parents are just winging it’ — Lottie Ryan on everything she wishes she knew before giving birth to her son

As the first grandchild in the sizeable Ryan family, Lottie Ryan’s son Wolf has brought more joy than any of them thought possible.

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Bill Linnane Opinion The only time working from home is not a utopian paradise is when the kids are on midterm break

Is there anything more annoying than an office pest? I’ve been dealing with one recently who keeps coming into my office for a chat, often about random topics like what he is having for lunch or some boring dream he had the night before. I’ve tried to be polite, to handle it in a mannerly fashion, but my patience is wearing thin.

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Dr David Coleman: Vaping amongst teens should be a huge concern for parents

Most parents talk to their children about drinking alcohol, smoking or watching pornography, discussing their family values and setting expectations about their behaviour. However, I wonder how many parents talk about them vaping? Based on the research, I think vaping should be a source of huge concern for parents.

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Alison Curtis: ‘I wanted my daughter’s experience of puberty to be better than mine’

Let’s face it — puberty is a tricky time for most children and families. It is a time when everything is changing, and when it happens can vary for every child. According to the HSE, the average age for girls to start puberty is 11. But it’s normal to begin at any point between the ages of 8 and 13. More important than when is how we frame this time in our children’s lives as it will have a lasting effect on how they view themselves, their bodies (and its changes) and others.

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Clocks going back throwing a spanner in works at bedtime? Try these expert tips to get your kids to sleep all night

The clock change last weekend meant we gained an hour and an opportunity for a lie-in.

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Bill Linnane Opinion There’s a big difference between my generation and teenagers when it comes to alcohol, and that’s no bad thing

How did you get on with Sober October? I think it went pretty well for me.

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Zen, Nova, Prince: The very unusual baby names Irish parents are choosing for their kids

Lyndsey Corcoran (36) always knew she wanted her children to have stand-out names.

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Dr David Coleman: How we can respond to antisocial behaviour in young people

I watched the RTÉ Prime Time segment, last week, about the derelict buildings and antisocial behaviour on Dublin’s O’Connell Street. The apparent lawlessness, occurring daily and openly was shocking. Yet, young men fighting publicly, the sale and consumption of illegal drugs, and public drunkenness can be found everywhere, not just on O’Connell Street. Antisocial behaviour is present across Dublin and in every town and city around the country.

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Bill Linnane Opinion Having a family is much like running a small business – complete with mountains of paperwork

We love a good laugh in our house. In between the screaming, keening, cursing, sobbing, and howling at the godless sky above, nothing beats a good chuckle.

Charity calls for 24-hour ‘cyber break’ as a quarter of Irish children say they waste a lot of time online

Eighty-seven per cent of Irish children aged eight to 12 are using social media and messaging apps despite being under the required age of 13, new research has revealed.

Warm parenting style can help prevent obesity as study shows neglected children are more prone to weight gain

Have you the right parenting style to stop your child becoming obese? New research today reveals that parental warmth is key to a son or daughter having a healthy weight.

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Dr David Coleman: Natural environments are crucial to children's healthy development – so we must protect them

Last weekend saw another meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly. The Citizens’ Assemblies are an opportunity for 100 citizen members to listen to expert, impartial and factual advice about key national issues, which they can then make reports and recommendations to the Houses of the Oireachtas for further debate by our elected representatives. The meeting over the weekend was in relation to the loss of biodiversity.

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13 things every parent needs to know when their kids grow up and start dating

There’s something no one ever tells you about parenting (or in my case, step-parenting), which you only discover once you think you’re out of the woods. No sooner are you congratulating yourself on having children who can just about function in the world (catch a train, make a bed, iron a shirt), and just when you’re starting to believe that all your hard work might have paid off and the young adults are turning out okay, you stumble upon the giant hole in your plan.

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Bill Linnane Opinion I’d suffer any weather to watch my son play football, even in Big Coat Season

I am pleased to announce the official start of Big Coat Season. I know many of you have been deluding yourself that it’s still Light Jacket Season, but I’ve seen you out and about soaked to the bone in your squelching trainers and dripping jeans, and you are fooling no one.

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Bill Linnane Opinion My wife made me give up ‘the big shop’ and now I’ve become what I despise most — a sensible shopper

I love a big shop. On those rare occasions when there is a sudden rush of cash to my bank account, I like nothing better than to grab what I believe is the largest collection of Bag For Life bags in Ireland and head off to provide for my family. I see myself as the modern-day equivalent of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. They hunted woolly mammoths and discovered fire, I waddle around Lidl in my elasticated jeans trying to remember where they keep the rice cakes. It’s basically the exact same thing.

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Dr David Coleman: After Creeslough, here’s how to help children make sense of awful tragedies

The explosion at a filling station in Creeslough at the end of last week is a rare tragedy. That so many were injured and died is very hard to accept. Many children will be as shocked to hear about it as you or I might have been. Its apparent randomness may make it more meaningful and more distressing for those children who have become aware of it.

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Fathers and postnatal depression: ‘I had mental images of dropping the baby — overthinking worst-case scenarios’

It is estimated that around one in seven new mothers suffer from postnatal depression and while once it was something of a hidden condition as many felt ashamed of their feelings or didn’t know that they needed help, thankfully times have changed and there is now a lot of support available.

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My child got an attendance award at school – and I’m furious about it

Last week, my son came home from school with a sparkling new pencil case he had won for his 100 per cent attendance. He was so excited about his accomplishment, beaming with pride. I told him what a lovely pencil case it was, but quickly delivered a monologue to him about how attendance does not make a child good or bad. It is lovely he has gone to school every day so far this term, but it isn’t something I could congratulate, because it wasn’t his accomplishment – just his luck of the draw.

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‘My heart is so full’ – Meet the grandmother who gave birth to her grandson’s siblings

When Angela Rielo’s grandson Noah started school, he noticed his classmates’ families were larger than his. His friends had siblings — brothers and sisters to play and grow with.

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Dr David Coleman: It is crucial that the voices of children who suffer domestic violence be heard

The Dublin Declaration on the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence was adopted last Friday, by 38 of the 46 countries represented in the Council of Europe, which is the leading human rights organisation on the continent of Europe.

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Bill Linnane Opinion Don’t be scammed by puppy-dog eyes — they’ll destroy every shoe you own and cost you a fortune

Friends, I want to warn you all about a very ugly scam that my family recently fell victim to. It combines the worst aspects of social engineering, exploits the most basic human frailties and can have devastating consequences.

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Kirsty Blake Knox Opinion The reality of the TikTok 5am-9am club: ‘Why is someone screaming in my face?’

Don’t you love it when you are accidentally on trend?

Activist Ellie Kisyombe crowned 2022 ‘mum of the year’ while Rosanna Davison crowned top celebrity mum

Activist and former asylum seeker Ellie Kisyombe has been crowned The Woman’s Way & Beko Mum of the Year for 2022.

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Setting up businesses, working flexitime and even bringing children on site – mothers reveal changes they made to cut childcare bills

When Karen O’Reilly was a young mum living in France, childcare bills were the last thing on her mind.

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‘My son doesn’t like school, he never has – and I’ve finally accepted I can’t change that’

My son doesn’t like school. The signs came as early as his Montessori teacher saying that he mixed well, could do the work, wasn’t disruptive, but, she joked, “is too cool for school”. Then came junior infants. We’d already had a wonderfully uncomplicated experience with our daughter in the local school. Kitted out in his miniature uniform, Prince Charming hair gleaming, we assumed it would be the same for our son. It wasn’t. At the parent-teacher meeting, his teacher uttered the exact phrase we’d already heard: “too cool for school” and ordered us to cut his hair, citing that it was hindering his concentration.

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Dr David Coleman: Why it’s important to teach children how to manage money

With the announcement of the Budget yesterday, you may have money on your mind. Today’s paper has features about how some of the Budget measures might impact you and your family. If this is a talking point in your family, then extend it to include your children. While you don’t need to speak to them about the intricacies of your family finances, dealing with money is a great learning arena for children and teenagers.

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Bill Linnane Opinion Three of my friends were expelled when I was in secondary school. I was left stateless and mateless for at least a year

A class bonding day! Did you ever hear the like? The only bonds we had back in my day were ionic, covalent, metallic, and molecular. School was about pounding fact after fact into our heads, none of this touchy-feely emotional wellbeing malarky. Collective PTSD was the closest we got to any kind of bond with our classmates, and look at us — aren’t we doing great? I mean, aside from the crippling emotional problems and whatnot. But our soft youth of today need to bond, so I had to dig deep and cough up a massive €20 to send my son on a luxury cruise to a beautiful island as part of some sort of bonding experience. I had assumed the English teacher was staging a live reenactment of Lord Of The Flies, but apparently no — this was just about giving them a day out. So my “packed lunch? More like packed conch!” joke was completely wasted on him.

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Dr David Coleman: How to help children handle emotions associated with ongoing grief

The queen’s death and her funeral earlier this week have received global coverage and the outpouring of grief in the UK has been significant. I am always intrigued when there is huge public grief about a person who was not personally known to them. It may be that the death of the public figure, while saddening in its own right, is likely to echo, magnify or recall other significant losses in our personal lives.