Greta Thunberg, one badass teenager

Most of us have seen Greta Thunberg's recent speech to the UN or at least heard of her. She is an amazing young woman. As she looked at everyone at said "how dare you!" it made me feel uncomfortable as I'm sure it did everyone else. She was visibly angry and when I thought about it more myself, I realized how absolutely justified she is in feeling that way.

Young people growing up today have been failed by those before them that more has not been done to protect the environment. It's frankly impressive how she is stirring up other school children around the world to be activists. I hope they will continue to care about politics and use their votes when they are old enough. Though I also wonder why the voting age is 18 and whether there could be case for reducing it to 17 or even 16.

When I hear all the negative comments about Greta, it upsets me. Why all the hate against someone for caring about climate change and doing something about it? All I can think of is that she makes people uncomfortable about their inaction and they can't handle it.

Comment of the week #MicroblogMonday

Chatting with a work colleague from a different team recently and she asked how old I am. "Thirty-seven", I answer. I'm not sure her age but I'm guessing somewhere in the late twenties.

She expressed shock at my age, having believed me to be much younger and then commented, "wow, you look great..considering you're almost forty!"

Gotta love the Germans for their "honesty, right?".

Ireland in August

We recently got back from a two week trip to Ireland. Apart from the usual time spent with family and friends which was wonderful as always, we also managed to do a bit of site seeing! Anyway, just thought I would share a few photos from the holiday.

Tinakilly House and grounds, County Wicklow

Mount Usher gardens, County Wicklow

Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin

Marfield House Hotel and grounds, Wexford

The fairy trail walk on the way to Ballymoney beach, Wexford

Ballymoney beach, County Wexford

Running on empty

Most people can relate to that overwhelming feeling navigating through life when things just feel non stop and your to do list is never ending. Everything has seemed particularly hectic lately and I badly need some time to recharge.

• My job has been busy. That said, it's pretty much always like that as once one project is completed, a new one starts with more deadlines! I took part in some extra training that was over a weekend and also had to join in some calls from home so it has felt more full on lately.


• Mini has been sick again several times in a row plus teething. I've been told that once the kids start at daycare they are constantly picking up things the first 1-2 years until their immune system strengthens and it definitely seems true in her case. When she is unwell it typically means worse sleep for all of us, extra doctor's visits and worry.


• My husband came down with stomach flu and was out of action for several days and then I caught it too. One night in the middle of trying to bring Mini to bed I had to run to the bathroom to throw up. Luckily hubby was there at the time to take over. When one of us is sick the other person ends up having to pick up the slack. I have a lot of respect for single parents!


• Looking after a toddler is lots of fun, but it's also exhausting! Gone are the days when she would sit happily in her hair chair while we all ate. Now she just wants to be running around on the go constantly - usually dragging me behind her! She also loves playing chasing games around the kitchen. That's my workout for the day sorted, haha!


• Keeping on top of general household stuff plus various errands feels impossible. We have so much clutter and I would love to have some time to Marie Kondo the place!


• On the rare moments I do have a moment to myself, all I want to do is lie on the couch and watch youtube or drink tea and scoff chocolate. I often lack the motivation to be productive.

The good news is I have some annual leave coming up and we have a long trip to Ireland planned. The actual traveling can be stressful but once we are there, we'll have a lovely time I'm sure! I am purposely trying to not over plan the trip so we can just be spontaneous each day depending on how we feel.

Raising a bilingual child

Research on how many words a child should have by a certain age varies. I've read that most (but not all) toddlers can say around 20 words by 18 months and 50 or more by the time they turn two. Apparently by 18 months many toddlers can even link two words together to form mini sentences already. In my facebook group of babies the same age as Mini and there is a huge discrepancy. Some babies are apparently saying as many as 40 words already whereas others aren't saying any.

Many people believe that bilingual children take longer to talk but I've also read that is a myth so I'm not really sure about that! I've read different advice about at what point to worry when your child isn't talking. I only speak English to Mini. Her Dad speaks German to her but when we are all together, our family language is English. She gets plenty of German exposure from daycare and just being out and about.

At her last doctor's checkup I mentioned she was only really saying "mama", "dada" and babbling. The doctor said they aren't concerned here unless the children don't have 20 words by age two. However she then said that some two year olds aren't talking at all but if they show *understanding* of 20 words that's enough.

A few weeks ago Mini started saying "yea/ja" which is very cute. She's still not saying any other new words (she's 16 months) but she does understand a lot and is able to make her wants known using gestures. If I ask her to point out body parts like "nose, mouth, eyes, hair, eyes etc" she's well able to point to them. She does get mixed up though between "where's MY nose?" and "where's YOUR nose?".

If she wants to be picked up she walks over and puts her arms above her head and makes a little noise to get your attention. Or she'll take your hand and pull you over somewhere to play together. She points at doors she wants opened or things she can't reach. She'll gesture at the stair gate in our house and I'll say "oh, do you want to go upstairs?" and she answers "yea".

I'm fascinated seeing how she learns and the associations she makes. Recently, I pointed out a bus to her as we were passing during a walk and she started doing the arm movements for the "wheels on the bus" song! When we feed her, my husband often says "mmm", like "try some broccoli, mmmm, yummy". And now I've noticed she points to food and says "mmm" when she wants to eat.

I'm excited for when she started saying more words and I'm curious about whether they'll be English or German!

The right to be heard #MicroblogMonday

As an Irish woman living in Germany I was allowed vote in the recent elections. The EU one was open to all European citizens and the local ones were open to all residents of the relevant constituency. I wasn't going to miss the opportunity and I was delighted to vote for the first time here and encourage others to do the same.

One good thing about this political climate is that people have been getting more interested in politics and realising how much their vote matters. To be honest I didn't know all that much about the different parties in Germany and what they all represent so I spent some time reading up on their goals until I felt happy with my choice.

Climate change and saving the environment is particularly important to me and this is one way I felt I can make a difference.

Staying informed

Recently, I came across a story about a girl in England who publishes a 'happy newspaper'. Her reasoning is that there is constantly so much negativity that it's easy to miss the positive things happening. I love the idea. She said that after big tragic events such as the New Zealand shootings, she felt like it would be wrong to publish but she had teachers from there write to her saying their students need some good news to after all they have been through and encouraged her to keep up the paper.

I don't often write about tragic events in the news on this blog, and sometimes it feels a bit insensitive or shallow to be talking about my day to day life as if I don't care about what's happening. The thing is I do care about it all, a lot. Stories such as the recent bombings in Sri Lanka, the Irish journalist, Lyra McKee, being shot during riots in Derry plus some other sad stories involving children, will stay with me and upset me for days. There was a night recently where I found it hard to sleep thinking about a particularly horrific child abuse case I'd read about.

There are times when I'm having a good day but then I read something awful on the news and it makes me feel bad for the rest of the day. It can feel wrong to be happy when someone else is currently going through something devastating. Although, maybe that's not the right way to think about it.. These stories should also remind us how short life can be and how you should appreciate each day you have. And be kind to one another.

I have often considered switching off from the news altogether. All the sad stories just make me feel upset and increase my anxiety. I can definitely understand the phrase "ignorance is bliss" in this case. A few days to focus on my life and loved ones sounds nice. A holiday from it all, including social media to be more present.

However, I generally believe that it's good for people to stay informed about what's going on in the world and not to bury their heads in the sand. Especially because certain events can trigger positive movements when people become activists and get involved with politics or take to the streets.

How do you handle it?

Life lately

I thought I'd share some updates on what I've been up to since March.

St. Patrick's day

I knew I had to celebrate in some way even if only for a few hours! Some friends and I decided to go to one of the Irish pubs in town. Even though a few of them were going to bring their kids along I decided to leave Mini at home as I knew the pub would be crowded and sometimes she just gets overwhelmed in loud and busy places. My husband was happy to stay with her and I enjoyed getting to catch up with the girls over a Guinness or two. I actually rarely drink Guinness! I tend to prefer sweeter drinks like wine spritzer but it was Paddy's day after all so I ordered a pint with some cheese and onion crisps.

It was a fun afternoon. Everyone was in really good spirits. There were a mixture of all nationalities in the pub and I enjoyed mingling. For some reason this only seems to happen at Irish pubs in Germany I find. At the German pubs people tend to stay with the groups of friends they arrived with. Of course I had Mini dressed in a cute green outfit for the day. Hopefully next year she'll be old enough to enjoy the celebrations a bit more.

Daycare adjustment

In March Mini started going to KITA (daycare /creche). In Germany they do a very gradual settling in process called "Eingewöhnung" which typically lasts 4 to 6 weeks. It started off well, the first week there we went for around an hour each day and I even left her a few times. She was happy to explore the new place new but soon it clicked that Mummy was leaving her there and then she started crying at drop off. The very worst day was when she was upset for almost half an hour after I left. It was very hard on both of us. I burst into tears myself and one of the minders gave me a really big hug!

I felt a lot of guilt around sending her there, wondering whether I was doing the right thing. I reminded myself that I knew she was in good hands. The childminders there are lovely and I knew they would be comforting her and distracting her. Thankfully that one day was the worst and it got better from then on. The following day she was upset for around ten minutes after I left and subsequent days only a few minutes max. On some days I handed her over to the minder and she got upset but then I would wait outside the door for a moment and I could hear she had already stopped crying. I was also able to peak into the window and see her playing which helped with the guilt. She is now settled and happy there which is a huge relief! I've been working more hours now and that's been going well too.

Time outdoors

The weather has finally started improving here and we've been able to spend more time outdoors lately. The German winter lasted a long time this past year but now all of a sudden we've started getting warm Summer like days. Hubby and I got a yearly pass to the zoo and have already been there a few times. There are lots of playgrounds and a nice park area so it's a lovely place to walk around even if you don't go to look at the animals.

As Mini gets older she is able to partake more at playgrounds. I can put her into the baby swing or let her play in the sand with a bucket and spade for instance. Of course she still tries to put things like sand and stones in her mouth so I have to keep a close eye on her! One of my friends and I also went to the park for a picnic recently and Mini was happy to sit on the blanket and snack. The weather lately has been a bit like an Irish Summer actually which is pleasant. Once it gets to August/September here then you get this extreme heat which makes being outside during peak times less tolerable.

Watching / reading

Like most people, we are following and enjoying the final season of Game of Thrones! It will be strange once it's all over. I'm currently reading "Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty and we've also been watching the TV series. I like the casting, the actors they've picked mainly match my idea of the characters. My book club met recently to discuss out last book which was "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman.

We've a few trips planned this Summer which I'm looking forward to. Anyway, enough about me. What's new with you?