Julie Jay: My IQ has most definitely plummeted since having kids

As I feel myself needing to phone a friend more and more when it comes to general knowledge questions, I can't be the only one who feels a bit of a silly goose since becoming a parent?

Am I the only one who feels I have metamorphosed into a silly goose since becoming a parent? Talking to friends, I think there seems to be a general malaise of forgetfulness and all-around absent-mindedness that sets in after having kids.

BEFORE I had kids, I prided myself on being a person of average intelligence — now, I’m not so sure. I could put my diluted intellectual capacity down to spending most of my time talking to children, not adults, but given my five-year-old had to inform me yesterday, as I moved a pot off the hob, that a wet towel conducts heat faster than a dry towel, I think it’s safe to say if anything, he is the one sharpening my mind, not the other way around.

As a younger person, I loved a lively debate as much as the next idealistic third-level student, and enjoyed nothing more than debating the benefits of neo-liberalism in a post-colonial society. Now, I can honestly say I’m just too tired to argue with anyone who isn’t below the age of six and refusing to go to bed, and even at that, the odds of me winning such a verbal combat are slim.