Throughout my time writing this blog, I’ve tried to promote events which were on in Cork for parents (and parents to be), things that would make it easier for those of us with kids to get out of the house and meet other people who are in our shoes. I’ve written about Toddler and Parent Mornings in the Library, Cuidiu Coffee Mornings where sanity is regained over a cup of coffee, and random events in between. This time however, I’ve gotten a little bit more involved.
I was thrilled to be approached a little while ago by the organisers of this new Coffee Morning For Mums event, which is being held in a shopping centre not a million miles away from my regular stomping ground, Douglas Court Shopping Centre. From experience I know that being at home with baby/babies can be quite lonely and isolating, and it can be difficult to meet others who are in your shoes too – so when the idea of a coffee morning which will also have informative talks for Mums was mentioned, I thought it was a great idea.
This February, Douglas Court Shopping Centre will host “Coffee Mornings for Mums†– a series of informal discussions and chats over coffee, hosted by parenting experts and bloggers for mums and mums-to-be.
Every Wednesday morning at 11am, mums are invited to go along and meet other like-minded women and their “smallies†for chats in a number of the Centre’s coffee shops.
The series kicks off on Wednesday, February 3rd in O’Brien’s, where Marie Barry-Murphy, founder of TheBeautMum blog and co-director of the #Cloggers Blogger group, will discuss Getting Fit Post Pregnancy. As a mum of four in her 30s, Marie will discuss her own fitness routine and how she got in shape for her first marathon last year. Marie is also a qualified personal shopper, stylist and makeup artist, and will share her tips on combining it all.
On Wednesday, February 10th in BB’s Coffee & Muffins, Dr Amy Herlihy will discuss nutritional needs for mums, both pre and post pregnancy. Dr Herlihy is a GP specialising in nutritional medicine.
Her clinic ‘Special Kids Medical Clinic’ helps parents and children manage their medical issues using dietary changes and nutritional supplements.
On Wednesday, February 17th in O’Brien’s it will be my turn, on the topic of mental health and self-care in pregnancy and post-partum. I’ve written previously on the topic and consider myself an advocate for mental healthcare, in particular regarding postnatal depression. I’ve got direct experience with living with mental illness, having been diagnosed with postnatal depression after the birth of my son. This is a topic I feel women need to be able to talk to each other about as it can be an incredibly lonely and isolating time. Despite the serious content of my talk, I promise it will be a tad more light hearted while making sure the message gets across!
The “Coffee Mornings for Mums†series finishes up on Wednesday, February 24th in BB’s Coffee & Muffins with Eimear Hutchinson, founder of parenting and lifestyle blog, The Two Darlings, discussing beauty routines for mums. Eimear is an engineer, mum, wife, blogger and beauty columnist with The Irish Times and is currently taking some time out to mind her two small girls. She will be chatting about beauty tips and tricks for busy mums, multitasking products, time saving tricks, beauty routines for quick makeup application and for good skincare. She will also talk about some of the Irish beauty brands and businesses that will be featuring in her Irish Times column over the coming months.
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All mums are welcome and there is no cost to attend the coffee mornings. You can drop in for any or all of the sessions, and there is no need to book in advance.
For more information visit www.douglascourt.ie or find them on Facebook and Twitter.
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Hi I went along today wed 3 Feb douglas court sc but obriens was so busy, with no acknowledgement of mommies meeting etc I left as no space to sit down with buggy……I didn’t know if mommies meeting was on as no one acknowledged me as to meeting on and was too shy to ask. It would have been most helpful if some one was there to welcome the mommies. As was no room even to sit…..
Hi Geraldine,
Thanks for bringing this to my attention – I wasn’t actually there at the talk today as I was unable to attend but I agree that it doesn’t sound like it was a good experience. I’ll give a shout out to the organiser and mention it for the next one as the last thing we want is for any Mammy to feel unable to join in.
The next one is on next week in BBs so hopefully it will be easier to get a seat, but I’ll address this with the organiser to make sure things improve 🙂
Lisa