Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?

I live with my husband and three children in Lagos, Nigeria. I’m a first-time Ex-Pat. We moved here from suburban New Jersey in November 2011.

What language(s) do you speak?

I speak passable French and Hindi. I can still read some Ancient Greek after studying it in high school, which is more useless than you can possibly imagine. I am determined to learn pidjin English while we live in Nigeria.

When did you first become a mother?

In September of 2003 at the age of 30, I had my eldest daughter. In 2005, I had another girl. And in 2007, I had a son. To be honest, our starter kid was the dog we adopted in 1999. Roxie was infantilized and fed a steady diet of hot dogs and bologna. It was only years later that we made the connection between the processed foods and her constant diarrhea.

Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work?

 What a strange question! I’m a stay-at-home mom but I do work. I mean, not very hard. But I often find myself wiping a poopy bottom or packing a lunch when I’d rather be relaxing.

Why do you blog/write?

I started blogging about our move to Nigeria because I thought I would have a lot to write about. And it turns out, I did. Along the way, I’ve connected with all sorts of interesting readers all over the globe. Without my blog, I wouldn’t be nearly as happy as I am now. Each post helps me make sense of an issue. It’s like scratching an itch.

How would you say that you are different from other mothers?

My husband says I am an idiot savant with poor impulse control. I suspect he’s right.

 I think other mothers are more together than me. I am anxious about weird things like hanging pictures and cocktail parties. I’m on the useless spectrum as far as domestic responsibilities go, which stinks since they fall under my purview.

Somehow I’ve raised lovely, little kids who are friendly and easy-going. I think we probably laugh more than most. We have a lot of fun together.

What do you view as the challenges of raising a child in today’s world?

My parents struggled to relate to me when I was growing up. They were Indian immigrants and I was an American child. I always blamed our differences on our dissimilar cultural upbringings. But now I think differently. I think that to my kids I am—and always will be—thirty years out of date. I may have a Facebook account but they will have something different that I can’t comprehend. They might have data streaming from their fillings. Or Mark Zuckerburg will beam information right into their brain. Who can say? I pray that even if I’m unable to understand the unique challenges they face as babies of the 2000’s, I can still protect them and raise them into capable adults.

How did you find World Moms Blog?

I read Mama B’s interview on the Parent du Jour website. Then I followed a link to the World Moms Blog. I decided to copy Mama B. I was profiled on PDJ and now I am on the WMB. Thanks, Mama B!

This is an original, first time post on World Moms Blog from our new writer in Nigeria, Asha, who can also be found on her personal blog, New Jersey to Nigeria. 

World Moms Blog

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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