by Amy Hillis (USA) | Dec 8, 2010 | Adoption, Family, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, USA
November was National Adoption Month. I wrote an article exclusively for World Moms Blog about my own experience with being adopted. It brought back so many memories that I had to keep writing! This is a continuation of that article. Please visit Adoption~Journey Past Life to start at the beginning.
“I am an old woman, named after my mother…….”
….. and my grandmother. And without my grandmother to act as a ‘buffer’ between my mother and I, my childhood would have been a lot worse. Of course, I don’t want you to think that my entire childhood was awful, there were good times. Times when my mother took her medication and times when my grandmother was watching over me.
Growing up, I knew my mother had a regular pharmacy in her vanity. Bottles and bottles and bottles of pills. I just never knew what they were until after my mother divorced my father, which was about 4 years ago. My father finally admitted to me that my mother had some mental health issues and had been addicted to pain meds. (more…)
Amy is a native Chicagoan that currently resides just outside of Cincinnati, OH. A city girl, through and through, she’s still adjusting to small town life. Amy has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art with a minor in French from Elmhurst College. She was working on her Master’s degree at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, when she became pregnant with her 3rd child. Although this angel boy was only here for a very short time – he left quite a legacy.
Nathaniel was born with a rare genetic disorder called Citrullinemia. Amy and her husband, James, went on to have 4 more boys, 3 of whom were also born with Citrullinemia. In January 2011, her youngest son, David passed away from complications of a liver transplant performed to 'cure' the Citrullinemia. Now a stay-home mom of 5, she started blogging in October 2010, while David was still in the hospital. Two of her other sons have had successful liver transplants to cure their genetic disorders.
Her 2 older children still live in Chicago. When not hanging out with her kids, she spends her ‘me’ time writing, sewing, reading & walking. Amy also spends a generous amount of time online. She can be found on Twitter @transplantedx3. On Facebook and on her Website <a href="http://mytearstainedlife.com"My Tear-Stained Life
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by Jennifer Burden | Dec 7, 2010 | Bilingual, Canada, Culture, Education, Family, International, Kids, Language, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, USA
I’ve started to buy my daughter’s gifts for under the Christmas tree this year, and I’m on the hunt for fun things that will excite her imagination and curiosity about the fascinating world that we live in (short of actually jumping on a plane to a different country). With this in mind, I’ve come up with a bunch of “around the world” gift ideas for children… (more…)
Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India.
She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls.
Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.
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by Kirsten Doyle (Canada) | Dec 6, 2010 | Being Thankful, Canada, Family, Health, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, South Africa, Travel
Six years ago today, my Dad lost a brief but excruciating battle with cancer. He had been diagnosed just three months previously, and he had gone through rounds of crippling chemotherapy, as well as a ten-hour long operation. Although Dad had been so desperately ill during the last weeks of his life, I had held onto the hope that he would survive and grow old with my Mom.
And so, when my Mom called from the other side of the world with the news that Dad was gone, I went into immediate denial. What do you mean, gone?
This is the man who raised me, played with me and read to me as a kid, gave me financial advice as an adult, watched an entire Olympics with me when we both had the flu, attended father-daughter dances with me and helped sell my Girl Scout cookies, and so much more. Gone? It just didn’t seem possible. (more…)
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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by World Moms Blog | Dec 5, 2010 | Adoption, Canada, International, Parenting, USA, World Moms Blog Itinerary
We start the week on Monday in Canada, where Kirsten Jessiman reflects on her parenting skills, a trip back to her homeland of South Africa and most importantly, a commemoration to her late father. You won’t want to miss this moving article, “The Last Piece of the Jigsaw”!
Tuesday, we cross Canada’s southern border and head over to New Jersey, USA, where Veronica Samuels, talks about educational gift ideas for children that foster multiculturalism and global awareness.
Wednesday, we head west back to Ohio, USA where Amy Hillis adds a second part to her adoption story, “Adoption~Journey Past Life Part II.” This time it’s about remembering her grandmother and the positive impact she has had on her life. Another tear jerker!
Thursday, it’s T.V. time with Kally Mocho for a discussion on children and television viewing in the USA. Kally debates her own dependency on children’s programming and is not sure if she can give it up despite her guilt in her article, “T.V.: Friend or Foe?”
Maggie Ellison in South Carolina, USA asks our Friday question this week about things we said we’d never do as mothers, but wound up doing anyway. It should be interesting!
It’s another deep week on World Moms Blog! We hope you will join us…
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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by World Moms Blog | Dec 3, 2010 | Eva Fannon, Friday Question, Motherhood, Parenting
This week’s Friday question was posed by Eva Fannon of Washington, USA. Eva asked the World Moms Blog writers,
“What is the most requested children’s book in your house right now?”
And, here is how they responded… (more…)
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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November was National Adoption Month. I wrote an article exclusively for World Moms Blog about my own experience with being adopted. It brought back so many memories that I had to keep writing! This is a continuation of that article. Please visit Adoption~Journey Past Life to start at the beginning.
