Swamped with social contact

Thursday, March 15, 2007 2:13 PM by lauranen

We're just about to head to Clare so I thought I'll leave a little message with you.

I know we're supposedly on holidays, but the schedule has been so hectic it certainly doesn't seem like much of a holiday. Even if we don't do anything, the day seems unfairly busy, because my daily routine with Lukas has gone out of the window, and even when he's asleep there's usually something else for me to do or at least someone to talk with, so I'm not spending as much time on the computer. In a way it's nice, not having to substitute human contact with Internet messages, but in a way I miss back to my cosy little corner of the web. Surfing the net has become the easiest way for me to relax, and my mind seems to be running clearer when I've got at least a few tabs open on the screen to catch my wandering thoughts.

Anyway, I was going to tell about the human contacts that I've had since coming to Ireland - mammy-wise, I mean. Before the move I decided that this time round I'd put in real effort into creating myself a social circle, and that I have done. I've met other mothers, even received a few phone numbers, been to a musical play group and today I'm just back from a play date! I even found out that the local district nurse (the equivalent of the UK health visitor) is pro baby-led weaning, and I'm definitely getting in touch with her next week, even just to find out about mother-toddler activities.

The musical play group was a great experience, Lukas loved it and I think over time it might be a great way to meet other local stay-at-home mothers. Lukas did us very proud by insisting on hugging all the other kids, but unfortunately he wasn't too interested in what the instructor was doing (I hope this isn't an early reflection of his school success). Everyone was marvelling how developed he was for a 14-month-old, and when he went in to hug/tackle (it's difficult to tell, really!) a 2-year-old boy, I was slightly relieved that it was him who ended up at the bottom of the pile. I'm really looking forward to going there again. In fact, there seems to be quite a lot of things to do with kids on the area we're moving to, but I'm still looking for a playground in the area.

Yes, we've actually secured a lease on a brand new 3-bedroom duplex, only 5 minutes walk from the train station. The landlady seems very nice and flexible, she has decorated the house in good taste and the location is perfect for us. It's close to the village with all the shops and amenities, the train to Dublin takes less than 30 minutes and the bus to the nearest town goes from down the street. We'll be spending another couple of weeks with Ronan's parents while the builders finish the new place, but we'll be all set for visitors by the start of next month!

I better go packing now I'm being accused of delaying the journey. Ronan's staying behind as he's going to Cork for a stag night tomorrow. We'll be reunited on Sunday, but we've got lots of plans to keep us busy over the weekend. We'll probably venture down to Ennistimon on the Friday, and on Saturday we're going to watch the rugby in Kilkee, where Lukas is going to see his great-grandmother. I might keep in touch via Twitter, so if you have an account you can add me as a friend to see my updates. If not, you can keep yourselves entertained with the new pictures in Flickr.

Happy Paddy's Day everyone!