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| Saturday | 11:30 am | 12:00 pm |
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About
Dr. Mary O’Kane, a leading voice in early childhood education, brings her expertise to your airwaves on Perfectly Imperfect Parenting . As a lecturer in Psychology and Early Childhood Education at the Open University, Dr. O’Kane has dedicated her career to understanding child development and supporting parents and educators.
Author of several best-selling books on parenting and early childhood education, including Perfectly Imperfect Parenting: Connection not Perfection and Anxious Children in an Anxious World, Dr. O’Kane offers insightful discussions on a wide range of topics, from fostering emotional intelligence in young children to navigating the challenges of modern parenting.
Dr. O’Kane’s warm and approachable style makes complex topics easy to understand, offering practical advice and support for listeners seeking to nurture happy and thriving children.
If your child could have any superpower, what would you choose for them?
Resilience! We can’t protect our children from all the stressors in the world, but to give them the superpower of self-belief, feeling capable enough to cope with the challenges they face, and to recover from setbacks would be wonderful.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to new parents?
There is no such thing as a perfect parent, good enough is good enough. You are going to make mistakes. We all do! It’s OK to ask for help and to accept support from others. Also, listen to the advice of others but listen even more so to your own instincts. Try not to compare your family to others, do what feels right for you and your baby.
What’s your favourite parenting trick?
For children, love is spelled T-I-M-E. Particularly when you feel your chid is being ‘difficult’ that is the moment that they are calling out for attention from you. Even on those challenging days, spending a little time really connecting with them will make all the difference.
How do you balance letting children discover the world while keeping them safe?
Oh, I still haven’t figured out that fine line yet! I really struggle with this one. But I do know that to build confidence in the world, children must take chances, make choices and take responsibility for them. I suppose for most of us this means finding our own inner bravery, to give our children enough freedom to find theirs.
What is the most important thing you’ve learned from your studies?
The most important things I have learned in life were not from my studies, they were from my children. I would never claim to have this parenting thing fully sorted, but they have taught me so much over the years. As they have grown, I have grown along with them. They have challenged my thinking, my perspective on life, and my patience! They have changed my priorities, and taught me so much about life, love, and about myself. I am still very much a work in progress, but each one of them has most definitely made me a better person.
Discover, Follow, Grow
This week on #PerfectlyImperfectParenting, Mary is joined by Dave Saunders, the #CEO of From Lads to Dads, a community-based support network dedicated to assisting and empowering new fathers on their remarkable journey into #fatherhood.
They had a chat about how important dads are in the lives of their children, some of the pressures that young dads can feel, and how From Lads to Dads supports fathers.
Tune in this Saturday from 11:30am
#fromladstodads
Jan 16
On Monday’s #GoodMorningDublin @michaelokanemusic is joined by @drmaryokane of Perfectly Imperfect Parenting, author of Anxious Children in an Anxious World: Facing Fears and Finding Brave, to discuss practical back-to-school advice for parents and children struggling with anxiety as the school year begins.
@itsamelhyne speaks with Maria Fleming @mariaflemingdub of @firstfortnight and playwright Liam McCarthy about how art is opening up conversations around mental health.
Maria outlines the festival’s wide-ranging Dublin events that are highlighting the importance of speaking out about mental health through art and Liam discusses his award-winning play He Dies At The End, supported by First Fortnight and running at @smockalleytheatre from January 15th–17th. Tune in from 10am!
#PerfectlyImperfectParenting #FirstFortnight #Mentalhealth #artmental #HeDiesAtTheEnd #theatre #backtoschool
Jan 11
This week on #PerfectlyImperfectParenting Mary was joined by Sinead Matson for a chat. Sinead is Post-doctoral Researcher at Maynooth University but joined Mary to talk to tell us her personal story of survival after a brain tumour and ongoing epilepsy.
She is an absolute powerhouse of a woman and told Mary how her experience as a Montessori teacher helped her to regain basic life skills! From that place, she went on to complete her PhD and is passionate about letting other people know that you can re-find yourself after trauma. Tune in from 11.30am!
Jan 2
This week on #PerfectlyImperfectParenting, we’ll discussing New Year’s Resolutions for the Parenting World! We’ll explore 4 ideas for parents to consider next year, including talk more with them, give our children chores. Tune in this saturday at 11.30am!🫶✨👦🧒
#newyearesolution #parenting #dublincityfm
Dec 26
This week on #PerfectlyImperfectParenting, Mary was joined by Kim Darcy from the Now Group, which is a multi-award-winning social enterprise which supports people who are neurodiverse, autistic, have ADHD, or have a learning disability into finding jobs with a future. Kim told Mary about the various free supports that the group offer young people.
Tune in this Saturday from 11:30am
#neurodiverse #ADHD #autistic #parenting
Dec 19
This week on #PerfectlyImperfectParenting Mary was joined in studio by two guests, Rachel Oglesby and Jennifer Taffe-Murphy. They joined Mary to tell us about a wonderfully inclusive approach to schooling, and the work that takes place in the True Nature Sudbury School in Meath.
The mission of the school is to provide an atmosphere of acceptance, which values each persons uniqueness and individual learning styles.
Not to be missed, tune in Saturday from 11:30am
#truenaturesudburyschool #inclusivity #schooling #acceptance
Dec 12
This week on #PerfectlyImperfectParenting Mary was joined by Deirdre Holland-Hannan.
Dee is a registered nurse with a MSc. In Urotherapy and In Behaviour Analysis. She joined Mary to tell us a little about the role of a Urotherapist, and to talk about bed wetting, constipation and any poo problems that children may have.
Tune in this Saturday from 11:30am
#bedwetting #urotherapist #children
Dec 5
The Christmas Children’s Reading Bookshow is back 🎄📚♥️
Tune into #PerfectlyImperfectParenting with @drmaryokane this Saturday from 12:30pm
And #AllAboutBooks on Tuesday from 12:30pm with @whatkatythoughtnext
From magical picture books to imaginative adventures and heartfelt stories, Mary and Katy take you through a treasure trove of Irish talent to help you find the perfect books for the children in your life.
#childrenbook #irishbook #christmasbooks
Nov 28
TOMORROW Saturday 21 Nov at 11:30am, tune in to DublinCityFM as I discuss Matrescence, Maternal mental load and how to navigate feeling like we’re SLIGHTLY loosing your marbles as mothers with the wonderful Dr Mary O`Kane! 103.2FM #thesanemama #matrescence #insanemamamoments #perfectlyimperfectparenting drmaryokane dublincityfm
Nov 21
This week on #PerfectlyImperfectParenting Mary is joined by Elaine Polek, known online as the Sane Mama, a #Matrescence and Motherhood Coach.
Eliane is working on a project collecting mothers ‘Insane Mama Moments’. She is asking mothers to share these with her anonymously, for an exhibition in Dublin.
You can send stories to: info@thesanemama.ie
And tune in to hear more this Saturday from 11:30am
#motherhood #insanemamamoments
Nov 21
This week on #perfectlyimperfectparenting Mary was delighted to be joined by Australia’s ‘Queen of Common Sense’ Maggie Dent. Maggie is the #author of 10 parenting books, is the proud #mother of four sons, and is such a strong advocate for a common-sense approach to raising children.
Not to be missed ! Tune in from 11:30am
#boymum #commonsenseparenting #children
Nov 14
On #GoodMorningDublin, this week on #PerfectlyImperfectParenting, @drmaryokane was joined by @aisling_childpsychologist from Connections Child Psychology to discuss the growing impact of smartphones on children and young people.
They explored how early exposure to screens can affect a baby’s development, attention span, and social skills and what parents can do to help create healthier habits in a digital world.
If you want to hear this show in full, check out Perfectly Imperfect Parenting on Mixcloud and Spotify!
@celebrantlovejoy speaks with Brendan Owens from @researchireland about Science Week 2025, celebrating 30 years of inspiring curiosity and discovery! With the theme “Then. Today. Tomorrow.”, Science Week runs from 9–16 November, featuring 14 festivals, hundreds of events nationwide, and showcase celebrations in Dublin and Cork. Tune in from 10am!
#parenting #theinfernaldevices #scienceweek
Nov 9
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