BRAZIL: How Not to Get a Dog – A Tragicomedy with a Lesson

by | Jun 19, 2012 | Brazil, Childhood, Family, Motherhood, Parenting, World Motherhood

It was the night before New Year’s Eve when my husband received the call. “I don’t know whether she’ll agree,” I heard him say. He hung up and said it was his godmother, who had invited us to come over for dinner. She also had a gift for our son. “Go with your heart open,” he told me with a smile.

I immediately thought it was a TV set or a videogame. Since, by choice, we have neither at home, people are always trying to give our son one or the other because they feel we are depriving him of two very important things.

When we arrived there was a table covered with fine cheeses and cakes. After a while, the godparents finally convinced me to have a bit of wine. I had stopped all alcohol since I found out I was pregnant and that continued because of breastfeeding (by this time the baby was almost one). The two glasses had quite the effect on me. Soon I was drowsy and slightly disoriented. (more…)

Ecoziva (Brazil)

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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