Friday Question: What is YOUR New Year’s Resolution?
With January 1st, 2011 approaching, we asked our World Moms Blog writers…
What is your New Year’s Resolution for 2011?
Here’s what they had to say… (more…)
WASHINGTON, USA: Momma on the Mountain
Today, I am remembering a very good day that I had this past summer. It started after a rather difficult night. Wes, then 3 months old, needed a lot of attention, and I had not slept more than an hour at a time. When both my boys decided to start the day at 5AM, I was a bit taxed.
I had some coffee to perk up and started thinking about what I would do. My husband had made a last-minute plan to take our older son backpacking for the night, so I would be home with just my younger son for the first time in quite a while.
I contemplated the possibilities. I admit that I did spend some time upon my husband’s departure moping. While I enjoy having free time, I also love hanging with my entire family together, especially when camping is involved. But, my younger son was just not ready for that, and besides, I could finally get to those piles of laundry that needed to be folded. I could run errands. I could get on the treadmill.
After lunch, I was multi-tasking by folding laundry and watching TV, and I thought about how rather than spending the day catching up on the daily grind, I could actually go out and do something that I can’t regularly do…something that feels too far out of reach when I am home with both boys. I was out the door within 30 minutes to take my younger son up Rattlesnake Ledge in the state of Washington, USA for his first real hike. (more…)
Working Mom, Not Wonder Woman
When I was a little girl, I LOVED Wonder Woman. While I didn’t have a fancy Wonder Woman costume, I did have Wonder Woman Underoos. I remember imitating Wonder Woman (aka Linda Carter) as I watched the TV….I would spin around and pretend that I, too, had turned into Wonder Woman.
I would take “super” jumps off the couch onto the living room floor and use my makeshift masking tape wrist cuffs to ward off flying bullets. If only it was that easy to become such a strong, beautiful and powerful woman!
So what made me think of Wonder Woman? I was laying in bed a couple of weeks ago because I was sick with a fever, and I could hear my husband juggling the responsibilities associated with having two kids under age five. I wasn’t really able to fully rest and nap – as I was encouraged and supposed to do – because I wanted to get up and help him. Even though I was physically tired and felt awful, I also, for some reason, felt guilty for not being able to carry out my motherly duties.
As I think back on this, I ask myself, why do moms have the innate sense to feel that they need to be a sort of Wonder Woman that meets everyone needs? And while my children come first, shouldn’t I come first some times? Why do we always seem to put everyone else’s needs before our own? Is that just part of being a mother? (more…)
Eva Fannon (USA)
Eva Fannon is a working mom who lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her hubby and two girls. She was born and raised on the east coast and followed her husband out west when he got a job offer that he couldn't refuse. Eva has always been a planner, so it took her a while to accept that no matter how much you plan and prepare, being a mom means a new and different state of "normal". Despite the craziness on most weekday mornings (getting a family of four out the door in time for work and school is no easy task!), she wouldn't trade being a mother for anything in the world. She and her husband are working on introducing the girls to the things they love - travel, the great outdoors, and enjoying time with family and friends. Eva can be found on Twitter @evafannon.
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The Quest for a Second Child
Was it Tom Petty who said it? Waiting is the hardest part. I am quite good at waiting. Waiting to get pregnant, that is.
The first time around it was over 2 years. All of the failed attempts were so difficult; living life in two-week increments became the norm—first, waiting to ovulate and then waiting and hoping to see that elusive second line on the home pregnancy test. I lived this way for nearly a year with no luck, and then pursued fertility treatments with a reproductive endocrinologist (RE) for a little more than the next year.
My husband and I learned all about the alphabet soup of making a baby: IUI, IVF (with or without ICSI) and PGD were all things we had to consider. I have no problem speaking in acronyms with my RE or ObGyn anymore (see what I did there!?). It seemed the whole world was getting pregnant, I couldn’t walk to the subway station in the morning without seeing at least 8-10 baby bumps (yes, I counted). (more…)
Birthday Presents for Christmas
On Christmas Day 2005, I was mistaken for Santa Claus. I was pregnant, one week past my due date, and as big as a whale. The previous night there had been unusual activity on the part of the baby, and knowing that our own OB/GYN was on call at the hospital, we decided to go in on Christmas morning to be checked out. After I’d spent some time hooked up to various monitors and gadgets, the verdict was that I should be induced.
I suspect that the baby was fine, but that my hubby-to-be had a quiet pleading word with the doctor (“Pleeeeeeease, Doctor! You’ve gotta get this baby out of her! She’s so big that she’s taking up all the space in the bed, and she’s been behaving like an antichrist for the last two weeks!) (more…)
Kirsten Doyle (Canada)
Kirsten Doyle was born in South Africa. After completing university, she drifted for a while and finally washed up in Canada in 2000. She is Mom to two boys who have reached the stage of eating everything in sight (but still remaining skinny). Kirsten was a computer programmer for a while before migrating into I.T. project management. Eventually she tossed in the corporate life entirely in order to be a self-employed writer and editor. She is now living her best life writing about mental health and addictions, and posting videos to two YouTube channels. When Kirsten is not wrestling with her kids or writing up a storm, she can be seen on Toronto's streets putting many miles onto her running shoes. Every year, she runs a half-marathon to benefit children with autism, inspired by her older son who lives life on the autism spectrum. Final piece of information: Kirsten is lucky enough to be married to the funniest guy in the world. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to check out her YouTube channels at My Gen X Life and Word Salad With Coffee!
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Awarded “Best Reporting on the UN” by the UNCA 2015
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