The Swallow's Trail Parenting Support

19/12/2025

Brilliant blog from Circle of Security International

Circle of Security can help us find our wisdom through the seasonal stress.

17/12/2025

This post 💕💫🥹

My 83-year-old mother wrapped a large portion of my gifts yesterday, bought me Rain-X to keep my shower door clean, and then folded my daughter's laundry. Somewhere in between, I think she unloaded the dishwasher and sent my other daughter a text wishing her good luck on a final exam.

She's visiting for the holidays, and asked for a few chores to do to keep herself occupied while I finished some work and my daughters ran errands.

I don't want my mom to do anything when she comes to my home; I simply want her to enjoy herself. She's done her time. She's served her family well.

But she keeps asking to help; she keeps buying things for me she thinks will make my life easier or that her granddaughters will like; she keeps telling us stories or asking about our days with interest.

She loves us so hard, so much, so well.

I know there is no greater gift than that. It is not lost on me. I am grateful for every day.

And I know I am the person I am today because of her.

I saw a quote yesterday where someone described another person by saying, "I love being around them because they're what an adult looks like when their parents loved them so well."

What a beautiful sentiment about parenting.

After a tremendously hard and chaotic upbringing, I believe my mother's only goal was to give us a life she never had, to live with some peace, to love us well. It wasn't always perfect, but at 83 years young, she still tries every day to give her kids what she never had.

And loving well is my end-goal, too. So I lean into everything my mom is and take the very best of her into my parenting, leaving just a few things out and then inadvertently adding my own issues to the mix. I'm not perfect, but I try hard every day to give my kids what I think they need, loving them with everything I am every chance I can get.

And this is how we change the world--or at least bring a little more love into it.

Love hard, friends.

It's the only thing that matters.

17/12/2025

Day 17 of my advent…

Each day I’m torn between two or three messages but this is the one that won today’s tussle.

It is so easy to be completely photographically absent from the whole thing when you’re busy - but really you must stop and allow the memory to be felt but also to be captured.

Our brains cannot keep it all but our camera rolls can… and our heart will be eternally grateful one day.

(And how we think we look is only an illusion in a moment of time, it will not matter a jot when viewed with eyes that seek love and remembering.)

This one is in Joy Chose You which is on sale today on Amazon ###x

Donna x

Love to you all 💛

12/12/2025

Here are some of the key concepts of Circle of Security parenting 8 week Parenting Programme.
It is always so lovely to see parents integrating the ideas and language into their everyday learning, observations and interactions with their children, tweens and teens!
My next group starts in February and is almost full.
I have 2 mums 5 dads signed up so far!
I am delighted to have so many dads joining me this time!💫
I know a lot of parents were interested in joining the group so I’m open to running a second Spring group if there are still parents interested!
Please let me know if you have any questions about COS!

11/12/2025

Delighted to be featured in this week’s edition of The Clare Champion!
I haven’t seen the article yet, can you find me on the front cover?🥰

10/12/2025

Big shout out to my newest top fans! 💎

Anna Mai, Mary Fitzgerald, Chris Donegan, Maeve Halpin

Drop a comment to welcome them to our community, fans

08/12/2025

8 invitations to reflect on taking care of your parental well-being on the 8th of December.💫
I hope these will be helpful!
I am hearing a lot about different stressors for parents this year.
Let me know if you found these prompts supportive and of course what your words for this year are!
Looking forward to reading them!

06/12/2025

This clip is very very special 💕

05/12/2025

talk a lot about the quality of our presence and ‘with’-ness as parents and carers.
Our hands have important jobs to do all around the circle of security..
We are now learning that ‘time-IN’ or the time we spend in ‘being with’ our children can help to organise and reduce the intensity of their big feelings..
Children need loving, caring, attuned and safe hands to help move through the intensity of their emotional experiences to begin laying the blocks of self soothing and ultimately self- regulation.
This is a new skill and not something that comes naturally to many of us, as it’s probably not something we learned ourselves as children…
Circle of Security supports parents to gently examine and meet some of their own feelings and build the reflective capacity and regulation skills that are needed to begin to offer ‘time-In’ to our children and teens.
I’ve been a COS Parent group facilitator since 2016 and love introducing the concepts to parents so they can learn to read their child’s attachment map.
Get in touch if you’d like to know more!