I still remember the first proper ‘parenting’ book I put my hands on. I was newly pregnant with my first child, just past those first three months when all I had been able to do was lie in a nauseous heap, lamenting the fact that I felt like I’d been hit by a bus. People told me the pregnancy ‘glow’ would come – I’d just have to be patient.

While on holidays in the West of Ireland this summer, I went for a walk by the sea with a good friend. There were people everywhere and a nice, relaxed atmosphere. So much so it felt like pre-Covid times again.

Each of us has an emotional bank which can get depleted. We feel loved when others understand our love language and hurt when someone does not. In today's interview we will be talking to Jennifer Kehoe, a mother of 6 and a frequent speaker on the topic of Communication.

Looking back on it now, I don't think I really knew what to expect when I got married. The man I had chosen to spend the rest of my life with was my best friend, and a part of me believed that once we were married, life would be perfect. If life was a cake, our wedding day was the cherry on top.

I’ll never forget the look on his little face. There we were the two of us, in the kitchen. I was busy making dinner, trying to serve the food, and simultaneously get the pots and pans washed up as I went along.

Recently, my children have suffered from my wilful mismanagement of videos & video games, and are constantly snacking, fighting, and forgetting any house rules. Yes, it’s come to this.

Like many Irish people, the last time I have actually paused for breath in a conversation and listened to someone uninterrupted, was back in 1982.

I never knew that caring too much about my children could be a problem.  Recently, I was helping my 8-year-old daughter with her homework.

The most common topic of conversations I have with my friends is how we don’t see enough of each other. Life is so busy for everyone, now we are a certain age.

It was roughly ten days into the ‘Covid-19 Lockdown’ when I had my first meltdown. And when I say meltdown, I mean a full scale ‘don’t look Mammy in the eye, she's gone a little unhinged’ type meltdown.

As I listened to their congratulations and words of advice for married life, I foolishly believed my husband and I were more in love than any of them.

When the schools closed, I found myself at home with my three-year-old daughter.

The whole experience of having lived in different continents has made me reflect on friendship more deeply.

“Don’t compare yourself to other people”. This is something we hear very often but I believe are all guilty of it in some way. I know I certainly am.