Arts & Living

Eithne Shorthall: So much of the capacity to parent is based on our ability to forget

From watching my second child peeing on my first child’s arm to catching their poo in my bare hands, parenting is a battlefield

‘We had two visits over the long weekend from friends who don’t want children and if we achieved nothing else, at least we helped to validate their life choices’

I hope you had a nice Easter. If you were off with children over the past fortnight, I hope it felt like a break. It’s hard for me to pick a favourite part. It might have been watching Child Number Two pee on Child Number One’s arm and a rash appear thereafter (more from him scrubbing it clean, than the urine); it could have been the three days I spent under near house arrest because ...