by Ambre French (Norway) | Jun 9, 2011 | Family, Humor, International, Motherhood, Norway, Parenting
“She’s got the look.”
My baby is growing an attitude. The once sweet, bouncy baby, who was always happy to crawl, happy to sleep, happy to eat is now coming out with an opinion of her own. When did that happen?!
It’s just crazy when you have the first understandable exchanges with your child. I guess it’s also a little intimidating that this bundle of joy you’ve been carrying around is now fully able to convey resentment, love, disagreement and interest…
As a young mother, whatever your head had courageously decided was “only” confronted to books, mother-in-laws or your conscience is now passe. There is an extra element to take into account: the child might not follow your lead!
She’s 16 months old, so how does she communicate this opinion? Of course, you’ve got the classic body language, the expected moaning and groaning…but, her ultimate weapon is her eyes: one single look tells a thousand words.
So, for you today, ladies, here is a little lexicon of the 4 most powerful looks that I have ever been thrown! I am sure you all know what I mean and will add more to the list! (more…)
by Karyn Wills | Jun 8, 2011 | Childhood, Communication, Family, International, Kids, Media, Motherhood, Music, New Zealand, Parenting, Toys
This started as a post about what happens when a mother gets ill, but still has a young family to care for. While we were busy doing research with a very nasty tummy-bug, Veronica published her post on taking her daughter to watch a game of college basketball, (NEW JERSEY, USA: Ladies of the Court).
It’s a lovely post about parents sharing their common passion with their child. The comments were great and they got me thinking – are our children genetically different to others? You see, during those few days when various ones of us were ill, the boys got to watch tv. This doesn’t happen in our house. Our kids aren’t allowed any electronic entertainment.
Before you jump to the conclusion that we are controlling hippy-freaks, let me reassure you that we have no electronic entertainment (for children) in our house for very good reasons. In fact, many years ago our eldest son was pretty much on a par with most other children of educated middle-class families. He watched educational tv and dvds every day, and he listened to loads of cds. He’d been to see The Wiggles on stage and a couple of other shows.
Then, a teacher suggested that a few of the behaviour problems we were having at the time might be due to over-stimulation. (more…)
Karyn is a teacher, writer and solo mother to three sons. She lives in the sunny wine region of Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand in the city of Napier.
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by Dee Harlow (Laos) | Jun 7, 2011 | Childhood, Inspirational, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Mexico, Motherhood, Parenting, Travel
The cliche that becoming a parent changes your world view in a profound way gets kind of old, but it is so true. My outward view of the world and how my children’s lives will be affected by their environment is at once richer and more complex.
The breadth of information and experience I desire for them to know is infinite; the protection I want for them emotionally and physically is visceral – all pretty predictable stuff in the cliche. What has surprised me, however, is the inward reflection on myself, particularly my memories, the way they have shaped who I am today. It makes me wonder how my children’s own memories will shape who they become.
Do you have memories from your early childhood which make you wonder if they actually happened the way you remember them? How did you feel at the time and how has that feeling stayed with you? Real or not, your memories exist and how you feel about those memories has probably impacted certain decisions or actions in your adult life. They have certainly impacted mine…in significant ways. (more…)
One of Dee’s earliest memories was flying on a trans-Pacific flight from her birthplace in Bangkok, Thailand, to the United States when she was six years old. Ever since then, it has always felt natural for her to criss-cross the globe. So after growing up in the northeast of the US, her life, her work and her curiosity have taken her to over 32 countries. And it was in the 30th country while serving in the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan that she met her husband. Together they embarked on a career in international humanitarian aid working in refugee camps in Darfur, Sudan, and the tsunami torn coast of Aceh, Indonesia.
Dee is now a full-time mother of three-year old twins and continues to criss-cross the globe every two years with her husband who is in the US Foreign Service. They currently live in Vientiane, Laos, and are loving it! You can read about their adventures at Wanderlustress.
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by Polish Mama on the Prairie (USA) | Jun 6, 2011 | Bilingual, Culture, Family, International, Motherhood, Poland, USA
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I currently live in Illinois outside of Chicagoland. I was born in Wroclaw, Poland and moved at age 1 to Austria to flee Communism with my parents.
We lived in a hotel in a village in Austria for about another year before we finally were taken by the Catholic Church to Maryland, where we lived in the inner city for a couple of years before moving to the suburbs of Maryland.
What language(s) do you speak?
I currently speak Polish and English. I have had little opportunity to speak the German and French I knew as a child but am working on re-learning them again. (more…)
by World Moms Blog | Jun 5, 2011 | International, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, USA, World Moms Blog Itinerary
We have an international week lined up for you – we will be traveling to a different country each day!
On Monday, we start in Illinois to learn all about our new writer, Polish Prairie Mom. Read about how this Polish-born Mom ended up in the United States and the special reasons she has for wanting to write about her heritage.
On Tuesday,we go south of the US border to Mexico, where Dee Harlow writes a thought-provoking post about early memories, how they can affect us, and how they can ultimately shape the way in which we raise our own children.
On Wednesday, we’re off across the ocean to New Zealand. Karyn Van Der Swet has some great insights into that great parenting debate: should we expose our kids to electronic entertainment or not, and to what extent does this depend on the child?
And on Thursday, we head off to Norway to hear from transplanted French Mom Ambre French. Ambre enjoys the best of both worlds, as she lives in Oslo and travels regularly to her native Paris, and she says she has no comment about recently joining the ranks of working moms.
On Friday Eva Fannon leads us in the Friday Question. Be sure to check it out and chime in with your answers!
This week we are please to add a new country to our roster as we welcome Mama B. from Saudi Arabia!
— World Moms Blog
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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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“She’s got the look.”
