Anna lives in Greystones with her partner, Ben and their two boys, James (4) and Euan (2). James is currently campaigning for a cat or dog to be added to the brood, Anna is resisting. She has recently joined Weekend AM after six years with Ireland AM.
1. If I’ve learned one thing about myself since becoming a mother it’s… that I’m probably a lot more of a worrier than I ever thought I was.
2. My parents taught me three valuable lessons about being a parent, they are… don’t sweat the small stuff; if kids make a mess leave them be (they won’t always be perfect!) and good manners go a long way.
3. The main thing that’s changed between myself and my partner since becoming parents is… that now we really appreciate our time together.
4. The most surprising thing about parenthood is… the laughter and the craic that you get out of kids.
When you’re planning to have a baby you’re just excited about being a mother and having a baby in your arms and how lovely that will be and how the dynamic in your relationship will change but what you don’t see coming down the line is the geniune craic that you’ll have. Mine are two and four and they have their own little personalities and whether we’re watching them together or if they’re interacting with us and asking the funniest questions (unintentionally funny!), the laughs and the craic that you get makes up big time for the lack of social life.
5. If my child has taught me anything about life it is… that getting down on your hands and knees and building a tower of blocks or racing monster trucks down the hall can actually be great fun.
For all the elaborate toys and trips it comes back to the basics. They’ve taught me that it’s the simple things.
6. The three most important lessons I would like to teach my child are… kindness – consideration for others. A sense of humour – sometimes we need to laugh, even at the hardest situations and good manners.
I say, “where are your magic words?” and James says, “they’re gone on holidays, mum”!
7. What makes me happiest is… before I had kids, it would have been lying on a sun lounger in Malaysia or something exotic like that.
Now it would be something simple like a lie in with a cup of coffee and the paper, hearing the lads playing downstairs laughing – that’s heaven. I love hearing them laughing because I know they’re having fun and not killing each other so I’ve no guilt or feeling like I have to get up and break it up!
8. My secret talent is… it’s really random, I write very fast, it’s a bit of a running joke among my friends.
If I’m listening to someone talking I write along with my hand, it’s bizarre. I don’t know where the hell it comes from. In college I was challenged to take two sets of notes during one very dense lecture that was given by a professor who was notorious for speaking ridiculously fast. I managed the two! Sinead Desmond can speed read, I wish I could do that, that would be way handier!
9. The last thing I think about at night before I go to sleep is…
Like every parent, I think to myself I hope they have a peaceful night and I hope every night can be like this. It’s like a little mantra.
Anna is ambassador for the Cheerios Childline Breakfast campaign (October 5th-11th).
For more information on events nationwide or to host your own Cheerios Childline Breakfast visit childlinebreakfast.ie, call 1850 50 40 50 or email breakfast@ispcc.ie for a registration pack or simply texting BREAKFAST to 50300 to donate €2 to Childline.
