Rita B. Wray

WHEN was the last time you felt anxious? Yesterday? Last week? A month, or a year ago? I probably had a couple of anxious moments just this morning already. If you have any children in your life (whether your own, family members, someone in the class you teach, in your local sports club), do you wonder if they get anxious? This is why us adults, especially parents and caregivers, need to be aware of how to talk to and help children in an ever more anxiety-inducing world.

I’M NOT SURE what to think of any of it. The upcoming referendum is definitely a head scratcher. Like many others, I don’t know how I would vote on the 8 March. At the moment, it certainly sounds like many will vote no, or not vote at all. I am following the debates about the referendum on the radio and online, wanting to know the result. What I would vote myself is a moot point. I can’t vote in referendums, only in local and European elections.

BEFORE I had children, I had all sorts of ideas about what I wanted to be like as a parent: not many of them based on reality. I had notions about what my children should eat or could watch at home, how I would raise them to become well-rounded human beings, and not break myself doing it. Then life happened. The minute I held my daughter in my arms, I instantaneously felt deep, unconditional love for her, but not much ever went according to plan.