I love Lime bikes because I live next to a secondary school, and I see those tearaways in every mood. Coming in, grumpy; going home, cranky; yelling at each other, kicking bins for no reason. Ah, the sweet hell of teenagehood. But when they get on the Limes, you can see in them both the…
Advice on looking after young children from parenting columnist Séamas O’Reilly My father doesn’t give much advice, which is a bit of a pisser considering he should know more about parenting than any man alive. He raised 11 children, and did most of that as a solo parent after my mum died tragically young. While…
In Nottingham, an army of tiny warriors is on the advance. Space Marines, Weirdboyz, Chaos Knights – and very small paint pots – are grabbing more territory as Games Workshop confirms plans for its fourth factory and buys land for two more to meet demand for its fantasy figurines. It is the latest win for…
Giving in to a pushy salesperson. Keeping quiet when you witness a workplace interaction that strikes you as unjust. Biting your tongue when a hairstylist declares that life is not worth living without micro-bangs. We’ve all been there. We’ve all caved in. Thank goodness for Sunita Sah’s spirited book, Defy: The Power of No in…
After 15 years on the contraceptive pill Francesca* decided that she wanted to know how her body felt without additional hormones. She started using a fertility tracking app – which tracks menstrual cycles or symptoms of ovulation to help estimate a woman’s fertile window – after learning about them on social media. “I had been…
I have spent years of my life online. I have nearly crashed my car because I was composing a message. I have had panic attacks over losing my data connection. I have scrolled for hours, and then failed to recall anything I saw during those hours. I have chosen a screen over a conversation, a…