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MummyMaps is the creation of communications professional and mum of two, Kate Moran. With MummyMaps, Kate couples her love of great food, travel, fashion and culture with being a parent. Powered by mapping technology, MummyMaps is a new, fresh way to showcase the best that Dublin has to offer families.
Kate doesn’t do all the hard work. Meet the MummyMaps team:
Madeleine M.
I’m an Irish girl who managed to play a frantic game of hop-scotch between Canada, the States and Ireland for four years and have two baby boys in between. Now living in wonderful Kinsale, Co. Cork, I’ve no plans of getting pregnant and moving anything, anywhere for a long time! Archaeologist by profession, with a fleeting side step into Gourmet Deli management and a life-long addiction to writing, I’m a stay-at-Homer, with none of the Classic and all of the chaos.
In her own words:
Worst mothering decision: Thinking it was a sane idea to give my then 3 month old an enema for his constipation while waiting to board a six hour flight at Dublin Airport. Don’t ask – let’s just say the gates of hell opened somewhere over the Atlantic.
Lowest mummy moment: This is a lowest parenting moment as I refuse to take full responsibility for it! Allowing our one and half year old to slip off a river bank, unnoticed, into a sub-zero stream in wintry Maine (don’t worry, it was only a couple of inches of water!) while we argued over who should be in the photo with him.
Best advice received: Question posed to me by my frustrated husband during a crying panic (mine!) because baby hadn’t napped for ‘appropriate’ time. “We had a human right, not a robot? You know their manuals are completely different.”
Sarah T .
Sarah is a mother of two small boys, living in Meath and working in media regulation in Dublin. When she gets a spare minute she spends it writing. Her description of giving birth to her first child won a Sunday Tribune feature writing award in 2007 and in the same year she wrote, ‘How to have a Champagne Wedding on a Buck’s Fizz Budget’ which was published by Gill and Macmillan. She is guest writer for Confetti magazine and is also, under the cover of darkness, editing a work of fiction she hopes to see published soon.
In her own words:
Proudest mum moment:
Both first birthdays; that feeling of absolute exhilaration all day looking at the cute and chubby result of what is a fantastic but very challenging first year. Champagne and rice crispies buns calmed me down.
Lowest mum moment
This week’s winning entry? Think one year old + the fruit section of Dunnes + a large box of melons….I looked away for five seconds and he turned the supermarket into a bowling alley.
Imen M.
American city girl turned Irish countryside mommy with an appetite for stylish adventure, chic interiors and banoffee pie. Her previous life was spent as a fashionable tv/film producer traveling to the beauty capitals of the world on a mission to cast the most sickeningly gorgeous models/actresses and keeping the wardrobe and makeup afterwards. Follow her blog IMAIF at http://marriedanirishfarmer.com
In her own words:
Favourite kid quote: “Please, can we listen to Michael Jackson?”
Proudest mum moment: Directly after giving birth-I felt like a superhero!
Lowest mum moment: Witnessing my son nibble a child after I just tattled on another child for doing the same, i.e. huge foot in mouth!
Favourite outing with kids: Hiking in Curraghchase Forest
Preferred snack: NICE creams sure are nice.
Guilty pleasure: Sneaking off to the cinema.
Covert mum activity: Root touch-up.
Favourite magazine: Cookie {RIP}
Mummy must-have: Nars concealer and TIDE stain remover sticks
Best advice received as new mum: Embrace it all as it flies by all too quickly.”
Wish you had more time for: Socializing with friends.
Sarah F.
Sarah Franklin is a writer and publishing professional, and author/editor of How To Fit a Car Seat On A Camel, an anthology of the crazy things that happen when you travel with kids. She lives in Dublin with her husband and two little boys, and blogs at http://www.nevergoeswithoutsaying.blogspot.com.
In her own words:
Mummy must have: An elasticated headlamp, of the sort used by climbers or potholers. It’s been invaluable for dead-of-night nappy changes when the boys were babies and is now a perfect hands-free reading light when we’re all tucked up for the bedtime story.
Best advice received as a new mum was: Try to get out once a week with your husband/partner, and once a week with friends/on your own (for a hobby or similar). We’ve done this since our elder son was weeks old and it’s a real sanity-saver.
Kathy T.
Kathy spends mornings in a busy PR office and afternoons entertaining her two very active children (girl 6, boy 3). Some day she would like to live the dream of being a writer but, as she has recently entered the realm of the taxi mom (Spanish, swimming, Irish dancing, piano and ballet…. so far) this is proving quite a challenge!
In her own words:
Proudest mum moment: When my daughter won a prize for her dance moves at her first school disco (I like to think she gets it from me…)
Favourite outing with kids: Anywhere outdoors with lots of nature (so long as it has a good cafe!)
Preferred snack: Eggs florentine (I take breakfast very seriously)
Mummy must-have: (1) Good friends at the end of the phone (2) My fur-lined black waterproof leather merrell boots. Like wellies but warm and stylish.
Wish you had more time for: My wonderful husband.
Hotcrossmum, a.k.a Hazel G.
Two parts mum and one part writer, Hotcrossmum recently stepped off the corporate ladder and now rides the domestic thrill-seeker’s rollercoaster of life as a Stay At Home Mum. Her days are now less about deadlines and boardrooms and more about washing lines and bathrooms. I suppose you could sum it up as not so much ‘Yummy Mummy’ as ‘Hum-Drum-Mum’.
As an antidote to washing the floors (or rather, avoiding washing the floors), worrying about what to cook for tea and the pain of stepping on lego bricks in bare feet, she writes about her life as a mother and other mother’s lives. Follow her blog, http://hotcrossmum.blogspot.com/
In her own words:
Lowest mum moment: Walking off a plane covered from the waist down in my child’s vomit. A very, very low moment indeed.
Mummy must-have(s): The patience of several saints. Beauty Flash Balm. A large bottle of Tanqueray Gin in the fridge (strictly for after bedtime stories, of course!)
Wish I had more time for: Shopping (alone), coffee shops (alone), baths (alone)
Guilty Pleasure: Jelly and ice cream (if you can’t beat them…..)
MNG a.k.a. Margaux Nissen Gray
Born and raised in South Africa by German Jewish parents, Margaux is the wife of Scottish James and mother of 1-year-old German, Jewish, South African, British MacKenzie who was born in Dublin, Ireland (but has an Australian passport… don’t ask). The adventures, challenges and mishaps of mothering are in somewhat stark contrast to previous career pursuits in the glamorous world of celebrity management and PR, but require similar amounts of patience, tantrum-management and hand-holding.
In her own words:
Lowest mum moment: My first day alone at home with MacKenzie when he was 2 weeks old. I bathed him in water that was way too warm and he went bright pink and then I hit his head on the door as we walked back into the nursery. I think I cried more than he did. I called a girlfriend and said ‘I don’t think this baby thing was a good idea.’
Favourite outing with kids: Sandwiches and coffee from Roly’s and heading to Herbert Park with my boy and our friends.
Guilty pleasure: Ellen – you cannot have a bad day if you watch that show. She could make anyone smile.
Covert mum activity: Let’s just say my little guy will be a great judge of footwear.
Mummy must-have: Lancome long-wearing concealer
Best advice received as new mum: Do it YOUR way
Sarah H.
From visiting her Grandad at the famed Rainbow Room in Manhattan to assisting her mum cater swanky parties, Sarah has been surrounded by great food since she was a young thing. Now a mother for three (with a fourth on the way), her passion for amazing food has not diminished. She thrills friends and family with elaborate spreads for birthdays, holidays and the occasional coffee morning – all with a baby on her hip and without breaking a sweat. Our very own Nigella manages all of our social media applications and serves up our MummyMaps Meals articles.
In her own words:
Mummy must-have(s): 1) An amazing trench: covers a multitude i.e. spit up, the mornings spilt breakfast and perfect for Irish weather; 2) a stylish over-the-shoulder handbag: hands-free for pushing a buggy, kicking a ball, holding a hand
Best advice received as new mom: Try and enjoy the early days- they go by so quickly.
Wish I had more time for: Sleep!
Guilty Pleasure: Anything chocolate – especially during pregnancy!
Faye H.
Faye’s a mum to her two kids, Saoirse, 3, and Patrick, 1, their 2 dogs and married to Mick, a sports obsessed Dub. Originally from Wales, she’s been living in Ireland for the past 7 years – and loves it! Faye works part-time for Bank of America in Leitrim, is a law graduate and lover of fashion, theatre/comedy nights (especially The Panel comedians), step aerobics and planning – she’ll plan anything from her dream holiday to what she’ll have for dinner!
In her own words:
Favourite kid quote: “Mummy my eyebrows feel funny, I think it must be my brain making them itchy”
Proudest mum moment: Cheesy I know…but the first time my daughter told me “I love you, Mummy” and again very predictable but the fact she could count to ten in English, Irish and Spanish before she was 2 (although I’m afraid I have to give credit to Dora for the Spanish)
Favourite outing with kids: Derrycarne Woods near where we live, collecting stones to throw in the water and playing hide and seek by the tree
Preferred snack: Peanut M+Ms. My husband doesn’t do flowers but when I was pregnant he had them shipped in from America (bless)!
Covert mum activity: America’s Next Top Model with tea and dark chocolate hob nobs
Mummy must-have(s): Touche Eclat and talc for greasy hair (thank goodness I’m a blond)
Best advice received as new mum: Never say never
Each and every location recommended by MummyMaps has been visited and vetted by our editorial team.