The first January we moved to Ireland I got a text inviting me to a get together for Nollaig na mBan. I'd never heard of it and had to look it up on the internet. It dates back when women did all the work and they would be given a 'day off' from the household jobs. Once I worked out what it is I thought it was such a lovely idea. The need for the day off is not as necessary as roles have changed but its nice that so many women still do something to make the day. Rather than dying out ,like so many other traditions, more women are organising lunches, meeting in their own homes for lovely dinners, coming together and enjoying female company.
This day, like international Women's Day I think are wonderful. They remind us of the strength of women and on this particular day the strength of Irish women. Even in today's society with more and more advances by women I think they do need the day off. It is widely recognised that women, even those who work full time, are doing the majority of what came to be called the 'second shift' or 'invisible workload' - the work round the house.
My husband does a good chunk of the work but the one thing that I take on exclusively is the role of organiser/manager and discussions with my husband have made it very clear this is the role he wants me to take, whether I'm doing the physical chores or not. So the difficultly, like many women, is that we are always 'on'. We make the decisions that the kids are sick enough to go to the Dr, we make the shopping list, we notice the shoes are getting too small and need replacing. And so many women have trouble sleeping - it's no surprise as to why. And its easy to forget just how awesome women are.
This year we have made a bold decision to close the shop for a few weeks in January. Being self employed it's hard to get time off, much like being a mother there is always something that needs to be done and I wouldn't have it any other way. But suddenly in the blink of an eye Francesca is nearly 2 and the boys are growing like Japanese knotweed so I decided to take a few weeks off to spend on my job at home.
We will close on Saturday 6th and reopen on the 1st of February. We will be refreshed and rearing to go with great things for the year ahead. So join us for a free coffee and cake this Saturday to celebrate being a woman. And pencil in the 8th of March for our next celebration of awesome women.
