Author Archives: Grin & Tonic by Alana Kirk

I’m a 40-ish woman. I’m pretty confident that anyone reading this in that age bracket has gone through enough matras over the years to fill a self-help book. In my teens it was all about ‘fit in, fit, fit in.’  Then in … Continue reading →

I’m no longer special. And it’s great! When I first had Daisy, I became her world. Literally. Like any parent. When hubby went off to Germany while I nurtured our new baby to be, Daisy and I lived in a little … Continue reading →

I’ve just walked through a riot. Ok, a riot in waiting. I always thought riots were moments of collective spontaneous combustion – a spark of anger / frustration / thuggery / protest – flared by a collective calamatous conscious of … Continue reading →

The girl on the bus. The girl with no name. In most cases, having no name takes away our dignity, but this time it gives some. Gang raped and abused on a Delhi bus, then thrown naked on the street … Continue reading →

Do you ever have one of those weekends when the volume dial is just jammed on high? The dog barked continuously, the mini maelstrome that is Ruby moaned all day, the middle monkey over-tired cried at everything, and the older sulked … Continue reading →

I don’t know if I’m jinxing things so I’ll whisper the words quietly, and write them in small font so they don’t get overhead by the gods of fate….by the laws of sod….by the ire of irony. But…. I think we’re … Continue reading →

Two years ago, I was horrified and harrowed by the awfulness of tending to the same needs from two people at the opposite ends of life – my mum and my newborn baby.  In the months after my mum’s stroke just … Continue reading →

I love it when I write a post like my last one, as if suddenly the world has shifted on an axis and there are no troubles to be found.  Because I should know by now, when you have three … Continue reading →

Life has changed so much in recent weeks. Speeded up, slowed down, eased off, taken off.  Since coming back from Donegal where the days rolled into each other like the sea on those glorious beaches, and the horizon was limiteless, the autumn … Continue reading →