A glut of redmums

I just clicked onto Irishblogs and was astounded to see lots and lots of my old posts reposted on the site. I realised then they were ones which I have added labels to courtesy of Blogger Beta. So if I do my blog spring cleaning over the weekend where I hope to add labels/tags to my archived posts they will all probably reappear on Irishblogs. Apologies for that I haven't a clue how to not allow this other than not springcleaning. Anyone any thoughts?

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Give me your ball...

'Give me your ball. Give me your ball and I'll throw it' was what the young fella walking past our house last night thought I was saying to him.

Because there is a hedge separating the garden from the road and because it is five foot tall, the fella did not notice the little doggie playing with a squeaky ball below him in the garden.

No, he only saw me sitting at the front step and so he smiled at me before moving [swiftly] onwards.

Thought I would share that embarassing moment with you while checking out Blogger beta which I was able to upgrade to last night. I have lost most of my buttons and links, but I saved a copy of my old template so I still have them. The only trouble is you cannot edit the template html yet which is a pain in the a*se. Though it says this will be available in the future.

But hopefully all the interface thingies are easy enough to use. I think I'll be springcleaning the site all weekend.

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It's oh so quiet - RM column August 10

Again this next post was cogged together while I was in Donegal. Actually that is something I should have mentioned before now. I didn't know at all where I could find a computer in Donegal where we were to write let alone email my column. So I decided that I would put together the column from things I have written on the blog. I then went into a credit union in a small village to see if there was anywhere with public access to the internet and the manager allowed me 15 minutes on his computer to send it on. Now where would you get that?

And I have just realised that I have completely messed up somewhere along the line on the dating of these columns, this was sent in on the 10th but published on the 17th. Arrrghhh - I'll figure it out somewhere along the line. It'll probably be something that I'll fix when I archive them along the side of the blog (something I haven't done since May!)

My little baby went away on holiday with her Nanny and I am missing her already. It is a bit ridiculous because up until the night before she left we were both looking forward to her holiday.

I've needed a break; my Mum-stress has been at a constant level of 9.9 out of 10 for quite some time and because of that AND because of the effects of this Mum-stress on the poor Young Wan she has also needed a break.

And now she's away and I'm all sad.

I can't hear Nirvana drifting in from her window into the living room as well as through the walls, the dog has been going to the window every five minutes and it is just so quiet.

There are no dishes in the sink, no strewn pyjamas in the living room in the mornings and no glasses everywhere in the flat but in the kitchen cupboards.

The poor doggie was absolutely traumatised by her leaving, it is mad how much they cop onto that is going on around them.

She saw me pull out the suitcase to pack and from then on she was slightly more derangedly cute and playful until she saw the Young Wan lift her suitcase out of the flat and downstairs and the doggie howled like she was being beaten.

She isn't a barker really so this was a bit 'ach the poor wee doggie what is she thinking?'

I recently made my first purchase on ebay, a backpack small dog carrier with ventilation bits and the rest, only we haven't taken it for a spin yet though we have forced the doggie inside and I mean forced.

If the bag had been pulled out that morning, I reckon the doggie would have jumped into it and strapped herself in.

Then we left and she didn't howl at first then we got outside and oh my god the dog was distraught.

She obviously recognises the suitcase, in the past we have gone away without her and gone with her but she has never howled like that. It was heart wrenching in a morning which was already a bit fraught.

We walked down the road to the sounds of the dog looking at each other. So I had no other course of action other than to phone the house, go onto the answer machine and leave a message to the house saying 'ach Honey its okay, I'm coming back later, and I'll be home in a bit. I'm not going away'.

I don't know if it made the doggie feel any better but off we went to the station.

So now I am sitting here and there is no one telling me long-winded stories about things I can't follow, there is no one asking me if I have seen her black eyeliner, no one has broken into the box of meringues and stolen half; as Bjork sang 'its oh so quiet'. Oh and I don't have to put the phone lock on the phone, though at this stage it feels wrong, very wrong. I might just put it on to make myself feel better.

What on earth am I going to do with myself?

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Teens and the internet - RM column August 3

Recent research has shown how internet usage and internet dangers has grown dramatically for our teenagers/kids over the last couple of years.

Consider the fact that 96 per cent of children use the internet as polled by the National Centre for Technology in Education site www.webwise.ie. Then consider that one in 10 use some kind of instant messaging programme such as MSN, Google Chat or Skype. (If you do not know what these are, go look on the internet and find out.)

One in fifteen of those surveyed say they have met someone in real life whom they met on the internet. In 2003 that figure was one in 23. That is some jump and in a very short period of time.

Of those one in 15 – 11 per cent of the nine to 16 year olds surveyed – said they met someone they first encountered online who tried to physically hurt them. ALL those incidents of physical and verbal abuse were carried out by an adult who pretended to be a child.

This information alone surely should be a wake-up call for parents.

Anyone who thinks their kid is equipped to deal with people like this, who think their kids are going to recognise this, is seriously deluded.

The statistics show that a serious amount of our kids are, by their internet usage, putting themselves unwittingly in danger.

I recently read arguments from people who used the analogy of riding a bike to explain their point how parents should not be worried about their kid’s internet usage.

Their point was that children can get hurt on a bike so is this a reason to forbid kids from riding bikes?

As cute as this comparison is – for me it is just that, cute. For a start you wouldn’t send your child out on a busy main road to play on their bike in the same way that nowadays we make our kids wear helmets so they do not crack their skulls on pavements or whatever.

It is no different with the internet.

There is no doubt the internet has transformed so much, from how we communicate with each other to the endless learning opportunities for young and old alike. And I think it is great.

But like everything it has its dangers.

What I found shocking is that 50 per cent of parents had not talked to their children about the children’s activities on the internet.

I can understand that.

I am in my mid-30s, computers and the internet have been part and parcel of my whole working life. I have always loved it and as a result have probably pursued more knowledge on it than has been necessary for my jobs.

The technologies of the internet have always fascinated me and for many other parents I know this isn’t the case. I had my daughter young; many other parents in my daughter’s year at school are at least 10 or more years older.

For many of those parents the internet is a weird world they have no idea about.

They maybe can send an email but beyond that amounts to massive amounts of confusion and just not being able to get to grips with it all. They just do not know and in some cases have no inclination to explore the internet because it feels a world beyond them; it is the classic generation gap.

I have had all these internet danger worries with my own daughter concerning Bebo as some of you may remember from previous columns and I think I have bored her to death with it all but I do believe she has listened to me.

Ach who am I fooling she is only 14. She is not able to deal with the wiliness of someone who is intent in dubious dealings on the internet.

She is starting out on the internet and along with her email she is mad about u-tube, any internet time she has spent has been looking at music videos though this has all been done with me in the room.

I do hope though I have given her important information along the way.

Parents need to arm themselves with information. If you know nothing about the internet, with September coming now is time to look at those local community education classes.

What are you waiting for? Find a course on computers and the internet, consider that a challenge from me.

Go on the journey, learn more and arm yourself with information. You will be pleasantly surprised and it will bring you closer to your kids (whether they like it or not). And let me know via email how you have gotten on.

In the meantime if you are worried about any of the issues I have raised; make a start by going to Webwise and check out the advice and information there.

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The First Gig - RM column July 27

Apologies this has been posted before so I'll put up a couple of the last Red Mum columns at the same time so as not to bore you completely

The Young Wan recently went to her first gig in HMV with a pal and without me and she was sooo excited. Her excitement was palpable since I said she could go. She was so delighted that people only needed to look at her sideways before she would say 'I'm going to a gig!' She was thrilled. And I enjoyed laughing at her telling all and sundry 'I'm going to a gig' 'did I say I was going to a gig' 'I'm off now to the gig I was telling you about'.

Deciding what to wear was also fun. The cool (as in not warm - but it is actually cool-looking on her) dress was a no-no because she would be moshing and her sandled feet could be a problem. I said then don't mosh because you will be roasting in those jeans in this weather. Ah Mammies - we are just too sensible for our own good. Just one question though do people mosh in a record shop?

Ah the innocence of it all brings an auld tear to the eye.

However you should consider the fact I brought her to the Pixies and Red Hot Chilli Peppers concert in the Phoenix Park two years ago. Despite my thoughts on that being a very cool thing for a mum to do.

My own mum used to bring me to Sonny Knowles concerts so I think a lot of credit is due to me. I also brought the Young Wan to Justin Timberlake and other concerts. But nah a lunchtime gig in HMV with some band she had never heard of before is well cooler. Mummies are just not cool.

The best person to tell us more is probably herself so it is over to the Young Wan.

Young Wan: “I went to my first gig on Friday.

“It was uh be polite or honest ok it SUCKED. The band was indie and I hate indie. It is soooooooo boring, it is all old. It was in HMV on Grafton Street and there were about 50 people there. There was no moshing (head banging) whatsoever. Well I am proud to say I did my best but I ended up knocking over a stack of Shirley Temple’s greatest film hits on dvd (she had it coming!!!!).

“So we moved very quickly to the front of the gig. Then we saw him. He was tall with long blacky-brown hair and about 16. I didn’t fancy him or anything but he was wearing a t-shirt, a t-shirt whose logo represents my hopes and dreams, a t-shirt which read in clear bold red writing PANTERA (the best band of all time). Wooooooooooooooo we were not alone in this gig. I told my friend Jay so we went over and got talking to him. Then we talked some more and before we knew it it was the end of the gig.

“Jay had to buy a CD of the band for her mum because we got the tickets after her Mum met them on a flight to Dublin. So Jay got the band to autograph it for her mum. After the gig me, jay and the guy we met went around town for a while we had a great time and exchanged e-mail addresses.

“The moral of the story is beware indie bands.”

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Où est Maman Poulet?

Eeek what has happened to Maman Poulet? Has she moved domain, has she been spammed. Who is Connor Byrant?



I spotted this in Bloglines but when you click on her site it doesn't come up. Come back chicken!

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Grrrr Blogger Beta

BEEN trying to log onto Blogger Beta with all sorts of cool bits and pieces including tags but have had no joy at all:(



From the sounds of others it might be a bit fiddly but sure a couple of sessions messing about will sort all that out. Anyway I still have to wait...

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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Librarything

I FREQUENTLY stop by the Publicity Bureau blog and have spotted lots of things which have caught my interest. Yesterday I saw a piece about The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas and was so intrigued I googled the book. I then went and bought it yesterday evening.

I began reading it this morning on the bus and while I have only started I am still as intrigued as I was and am looking forward to picking it up again later this evening.

And like many others around the Irish blogosphere I have also been using the cool Librarything but so far have only managed to put up a fraction of books I have. Nevermind the fact I draw a blank when I sit down to input titles. Consider that a work in progress.

Click on the Publicity Bureau website and to see their blog click on the button 'Find out what makes us tick'. Despite having permalinks they only link to the website which is under construction.

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One more Donegal post

I WAS so tired when I last posted that I forgot to mention a couple of funny things from my couple of days away. Anyway here goes and because they weren’t included in my last post they will probably read somewhat disjointed.

On the North Coast stretch of my trip approaching the Giants Causeway, we noticed a serious amount of campervans and foreign cars all parked along the road coming up to the Giants Causeway. For an awful moment I thought ‘maybe it is full’. Now in hindsight I realise that was a foolish thought to have, the Causeway is massive and there would have to be a serious amount of people there to fill it.



It was when we drove in that we realised, they were tourists parking on the road to avoid paying the €5 car park fee and I thought you mealy-mouthed tight arses. I understand some people will be doing the trip around Ireland on a budget. But seriously one look at these campervans, many which are larger and probably more comfy than my flat. They can certainly fork out €5 to enjoy a 60million-year-old geological wonder.

Certainly the car park was busy but not full and people were coming and going all the time so parking sis not apppear to be the problem. I just thought not paying for the upkeep, the facilities was the height of meanness. A tourist even asked us for our parking ticket when we left. We gave it to them but maybe we should have said ‘splash out €5 Ebenezer’.

The other thing that made me laugh was up in Donegal when my pal Tawdrey’s husband Big S from Manchester came back from the shop in Downings with a copy of Ireland’s Own.

And he didn’t read it all in one go; he savoured it over a couple of days, really he did. He came out with comments like ‘where can you read about the work of Fr Pat Noise (okay I am joking there but there is a profile of some priest in the current edition – check it out if you don’t believe me) to Irish patriots to jokes which were perfect for their two-year-old.

That’s another funny thing, my pal has two daughters a two and a five-year-old and they do this very funny comedy double act where the five-year-old started the joke and the two-year-old told the punch line.

So we spent five minutes teaching her ‘okay darling the joke is what is a hedgehog’s favourite food? The punch line is’. She would whisper ‘prickled onions’. Priceless.

The Downings Festival was also a sight to behold. There are normally pig races with little knitted men on top as one of the attractions but sadly this was cancelled this year much to my annoyance. There was a funfair with three rides, or was that four. Sure everyone loves the bumper cars.



There was the Johnny Cash tribute with an American-accented fella crooning out the hits, then we found out he is actually from Derry.


As those underneath enjoy the music, the woman in the window has a wee cup of tea


The Festival Queen


Enjoying the craic agus ceol

Or there was the night after Sand’s disco Tawdrey and I gatecrashed a teenagers’ house party in their parent’s mobile home before staggering back to our caravan at 6am. Big S said he could hear people banging about the walls of the caravan trying to get to the loo, I think it was me.

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From Dublin to Donegal

I GOT back last week from a hectic but fantastic week away from Dublin. I started off my bank holiday weekend by going up to Belfast with some pals from Dublin. We did the north coast scenic road up to the Giants Causeway which is a highly recommended trail for everyone to try at some point.


Giants Causeway

While my pals headed back to Dublin on Monday, I headed up to Donegal with the doggie in tow where I met up with another pal.

We had a wonderful week with lots of walks on beautiful beaches, laughs, not to mention the occasional running after a very enthusiastic and happy dog.

The doggie found the travelling hard, not to mention the fact that she got little sleep, not when there was my pal’s beautiful two daughters to play with. So she has been sleeping since we arrived back last night, poor thing. But she loved it all.

She even endured the humiliation of the doggie carrier because she started to associate it with a trip in the car to the beach. I can report the bag itself is a dream and much easier to handle than the plastic animal carriers you can buy.

Anyway here are some pictures from the week, with more on Flickr, and more to be posted in the coming days.

I’m off now cos I am still knackered.


Giants Causeway




Donegal, just outside Downings


Honey at the Giants Causeway




Outside the Giants Causeway


Downings, Donegal




If you look closely you can see the very small child at the left hand side which shows the scale of this beautiful beach called the Murderhole.



Downings bar.



Donegal shirts out to dry, I took an almost identical picture in the same spot about 10 years ago, must hunt that out.



The doggie just loved the beaches.

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Learn to complain - it is the only way

I ALLUDED to it in in a previous post about an issue with my bank and having to complain. Now it has been resolved, do you wanna hear about it?

In the last week I applied for the most substantial loan I have ever taken out from Ulster Bank whom I have been banking with for the last 12 years or so.

I did it online, it was so easy and with an APR of 6.8 per cent with their summer sale I was delighted to be clearing my debts which I unfortunately accrued when earning shit wages.

I wanted to clear credit card debts, an overdraft and have money left to apply for the shared ownership/affordable housing scheme.

The problem with applying for the shared ownership scheme is that you need to have €1600 in a bank account so you can submit a bank statement with the application, but having an overdraft I never have.

This way I can not only clear the debt but I can put that money aside in case something/housing comes up. Getting up €1600 is not something I can do easily in a short period of time, more like a couple of months.

Anyway I went online, did the application and sat back thinking this is great, in three working days I could clear my debts with one easy monthly direct debit payment (and less than my two credit cards combined)over five years.

Four days later I got a rejection letter. So I phoned the number on the letter and complained but I got nowhere really. They told me I was refused because I have an overdraft.

Apparently I would need to clear the overdraft and be in credit for about three months before I would be considered. However the summer deal only lasts for the next month. They then said I could go into my branch and try and sort out another loan.

The problem with this is that the loan would not be the 6.8 deal being offered to everyone else including non-customers.

So I phoned my branch and said I would move my account if this wasn't resolved to my satisfaction. I don't like being arsey with people (particularly people just trying to do a job) but this was too much.

About four years ago Ulster Bank launched this new credit card and advertised it heavily. This campaign involved people in Ulster Bank branches signing up people instore.

Also consider that in most cases the people in the Ulster Bank branches are actually customers. Well you can't get money out of the AIB if you are in the Ulster Bank.

So the woman selling the credit cards approached me and I filled out the form hoping to transfer the balance of my old Ulster Bank visa credit card to this new and improved fantastic deal card.

Only I couldn't because I was an existing customer.

So when I was rejected for this summer loan deal I phoned my branch and asked to speak to a manager and I explained everything. I said I wasn't happy with this service and I wasn't happy that as a customer I would not, yet again, be afforded the benefits that non-customers would.

Within an hour or two someone got back to me, asked me some questions and put in another application. This was Friday and they said while they couldn't promise anything that it should be okay.

They phoned back on Monday and it was all approved. The woman I dealt with was charming, lovely, apologetic and made me feel like a valued customer, something that can be very rare in Dublin.

I had to go into the branch to cross the Ts and dot the Is. I have to say it was a little daunting commiting to such a debt. But it is fifty-million times better than owing it to credit card companies.

I have two cards, one has not been used in a year and it has not dropped much at all, I cannot wait to close that account and cut the bloody card up. The other I will keep but it will be an emergency card for buying on the internet and purchasing flights.

So in the next couple of days I will be clearing my debts and will be applying to Dublin City Council for our own home. Wish me luck.

Oh and I am heading off for a week to Belfast and Donegal, talk to you when I get back.

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Bears mauled - dog goes beserk

I SENT a link to TCAL today a story in the Guardian about a guard dog that mauled a very expensive teddy bear collection which was only allowed on display IF there was a dog to guard them.

Barney the doberman guard dog stands over the remains of the soft toys he mauled. Photograph: Jon Mills/SWNS

Brilliantly written with lots of laughs, I roared out loud when I read the last line

"We have asked the security firm not to send us that dog again," Mr Medley said. "I really don't want to see anything bigger than a Jack Russell."

Well my doggie is no bigger than a Jack Russel and I dread to think what damage she could do in there. From my experience with dogs, they are not the ones to mind/watch/guard teddies.


In cold blood


The aftermath


Soft toy minus its innards


Wasn't me

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An email joke (aka lazy blogpost)

I DON'T know if anybody has posted this before or indeed seen it a million times before, apologies if that is the case. I got it on email a while ago and it made me laugh out loud. Don't know if it is true, it could be an auld urban myth. Still worth a giggle though.

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