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

I live in Alexandria – Egypt. I was born there and I spent most of my life in this lovely city.

What language(s) do you speak?

My mother tongue is Arabic, I speak English and I have a good command of French.

When did you first become a mother?

On November 1997 I became a mother for the first time and on October 2003 for the second time.

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

I worked as a software engineer for 27 years in different software houses in Alexandria and for sometime in Cairo. I worked as a consultant for several years. I quit my job and my career 2 years ago when I decided to change to life coaching career. At that time I was studying it and found that coaching is exactly what I was looking for a long time. Now I am a self-employed life and career coach.

Why do you blog/write?

I started blogging, for the first time, during my coaching studies as it was one of the requirements for graduation. In the beginning it seemed difficult to me as I believed I am not so good at writing, but I always wished I could put my thoughts and feelings in writing. After I blogged for some time I found it so interesting and liked it so much it became so easy, especially when I write about my thoughts and my feelings during the experiences I went through in my life. Now I find it a great opportunity to connect with people and share with them what I think, feel, and believe and learn what they think, feel, and believe. It’s the magic of the internet that made connecting with people all over the world at our fingertips.

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

I didn’t think a lot about being different as a mother all I wanted is to be so close to my children, make them feel how important they are to me, and that I love them unconditionally. I believe that when they love me enough and they are sure I love them from the bottom of my heart there won’t be any barriers between us. I think they will believe that everything I do and say is for their welfare.

In our community we expect our children to obey to us for long time, as long as we live, maybe we are over-protective but sometimes we can see what they can’t. It’s true that it is unrealistic but I think that having a strong relationship will help in making them believe that I do care about them and their safety and I am not trying to dominate their lives. To be honest, I focus on avoiding the mistakes that my mom made while raising me. I try to avoid over dominating, criticizing, taking the good for granted, and focusing and blaming for the least mistake. I try to encourage them and acknowledge their achievements as much as possible.

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

With the media and the internet in every house and with children having access to the internet at a very early age I think that my biggest challenge is to raise them according to my social and religious values and principles. We can not control who they know and what information they get through the internet.

How did you find World Moms Blog?

I knew about World Moms blog from a peer coach, we were members in a FaceBook group for blogging and we used to blog about the same topic every month. She said she always liked my posts so she forwarded the link of World Moms Blog to me. I found it an opportunity to share my thoughts with women from all over the world and know more about them through their blogs. As I have chosen my niche coaching women to find their happiness, passion and satisfaction in all aspects of their lives I believe contacting women from all over the world can be so helpful to me to learn about challenges women face in different countries and their creative ways to deal with these challenges.

This is an original first post to World Moms Blog by Nihad from Alexandria. She can be found writing at Aurora Beams Life Coaching.

Photo Credit to the author.

Nihad

Nihad is an Egyptian woman, who was born and has lived her whole life in Alexandria, Egypt. She says, “People who visited this city know how charming and beautiful this city is. Although I love every city in Egypt, Alexandria is the one I love the most.” She is a software engineer and has worked in the field for more than twenty years. But recently she quit her job, got a coaching certificate and she is now a self employed life and career coach. She says, “I believe that women in this era face big challenges and they are taking huge responsibilities. That's why I have chosen my niche -- women looking for happiness and satisfaction. I help and support them in making whatever change (career change, life change, behavior change, belief change…) they want to bring more satisfaction and happiness in their lives.” Nihad is a mother of two lovely boys, 15 and 9 years old. She states, “They are the most precious gifts I have ever had. I madly love them, and I consider them the main source of happiness in my life.” Our inspiring mother in Egypt can also be found at Aurora Beams Life Coaching.

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