by Dee Harlow (Laos) | Oct 11, 2011 | Family, Living Abroad, Motherhood, Parenting
It really does take a village to raise children. I am convinced of it.
In the beginning, I managed the twins with my husband and a 24/7 baby nurse for six weeks. After my husband went back to work, it was just me and a full time nanny for three months.
And when that didn’t work out, it was only me and a housekeeper who came around two, then three times, a week. This arrangement lasted until the kids were over a year old when I asked her to come everyday.
I stopped caring about the cleaning and only wanted her full attention on the children. (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 Ecoziva (Brazil) | Oct 10, 2011 | Brazil, Childhood, Family, Family Travel, Kids, Travel
When I was a child I went on a car trip that I spent decades wanting to repeat. At the time, my family lived in a tiny inland town in northeastern Brazil, where its 3,000 or so residents live perched on a beautiful mountain 900 m above sea level.
An older cousin who lived with us was getting married at what was then considered to be the “ripe old age” of 25 and needed her baptism certificate for the traditional Catholic Church ceremony. This needed to be picked up from her native town several hours away. (more…)
Eco, from the greek oikos means home; Ziva has many meanings and roots, including Hebrew (brilliance, light), Slovenian (goddess of life) and Sanskrit (blessing). In Brazil, where EcoZiva has lived for most of her life, giving birth is often termed “giving the light”; thus, she thought, a mother is “home to light” during the nine months of pregnancy, and so the penname EcoZiva came to be for World Moms Blog.
Born in the USA in a multi-ethnic extended family, EcoZiva is married and the mother of two boys (aged 12 and three) and a five-year-old girl and a three yearboy. She is trained as a biologist and presently an university researcher/professor, but also a volunteer at the local environmental movement.
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by World Moms Blog | Oct 9, 2011 | Brazil, Eva Fannon, Norway, USA, World Moms Blog Itinerary
On Monday we are in Brazil with Eco Ziva, who recounts an exciting adventure. She got to repeat a childhood Brazilian journey with her own son thirty years later.
On Tuesday, we fly north to the United States, where Dee Harlow has taken up temporary residence in Virginia. Come read about how Dee tries to compensate for the fact that she is raising her children far away from her family.
On Wednesday, we are in North Carolina with Frelle. Frelle is a busy mom of four kids. She is an advocate of attachment parenting, and has been brave enough to homeschool her kids. She also says that she leads by example where it comes to body piercings and tattoos.
On Thursday we fly over to Norway to hear from Asta Burrows. Asta talks about the role of grandparents in our kids’ lives, and the challenges of involving grandparents who live far away.
And on Friday, we are in Washington, where Eva Fannon talks about Blackberries. Not the electronic kind, but the fruit!
On Saturday, check out the Saturday Sidebar and chime in with your answers to the week’s question.
In writer interviews this week, on Tuesday we will hear from Angela Y. in California.
— World Moms Blog
Our World Moms Blog logo was designed by the creative Erica Joyner Designs in Virginia, USA.
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 | Oct 8, 2011 | China, International, Salma, Saturday Sidebar, Special Needs, Third Eye Mom
Welcome to the Saturday Sidebar (formerly known as the Friday Question)! This weekend our discussion question comes from World Moms Blog founder Jennifer Burden. She asked our writers,
“If you had to pick one cause or charity for social good, which would you choose? What is closest to your heart?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
Salma of Ontario, Canada writes:
“Great question. I have supported many organizations over the years, but the one that is closest to my heart is The White Ribbon Campaign. Men working to end violence against women (VAW) is a huge deal to me. VAW is often considered a woman’s issue, BUT it is society’s problem, so I am all for supporting it.” (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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by World Moms Blog | Oct 7, 2011 | Family, Motherhood, Post Partum Depression, USA
I looked around at their smiling faces as I nervously fiddled with my unkempt hair.
When was the last time I took a shower? I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate, either.
I wasn’t hungry.
“Oh, Carri!” My grandma was holding him, his tiny hand wrapped around her finger. “He’s beautiful and he’s such a healthy boy!”
I studied him from across the room as he was shuffled from person to person. His perfectly round head. His teeny toes. Those skinny chicken legs.
Blake: The newest member of our family.
They were excited to meet him. To hold him. To stroke his soft skin and take in his new scent.
I wanted them to leave.
My parents. My brother. My aunt and uncle. My grandma. They had to leave.
The walls were closing in.
My thoughts. The thoughts were racing. He was going to be hungry soon. He would need a diaper change. He would spit up and need another change of clothes.
The house was dirty.
I had to do laundry.
I needed to try and sleep.
But I couldn’t sleep. The thoughts wouldn’t stop long enough.
The walls were closing in. (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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It really does take a village to raise children. I am convinced of it.
