Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live in Rhode Island, U.S.A, and though I have lived in New York & Maryland, and traveled the world in between, I ended up settling down only an hour from where I grew up in Massachusetts.
What language(s) do you speak?
English, and Spanish at about the level of a five year old.
When did you first become a mother?
I had my first baby when I was 32, which is young compared to my own mother who had her first child at 43.
Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work outside the home?
I am a stay at home mother, which I had always wanted to be. Having grown up a latch key kid with a working mother, I had always idealized my neighbor who stayed home with her kids, baked cookies and sewed clothes for them. (not that I can sew)
Why do you blog/write?
Like many writers, I have always just written, starting as a kid with journals and stories. Watching my daughter do the same thing I almost wonder if there is a genetic component to it, I remember my father always writing too. I was asked to be a contributing writer for a friends blog a couple of years ago and loved getting back to writing. It was also at the time my youngest was entering school full time so I was wondering what I wanted to be when I grew up now that I had some time. I realized that blogging was a great alternate platform as a documentarian, and something I could do from home to still be there for my family.
How would you say that you are different from other mothers?
I thing globally mothers are more alike than different, and I love how I can relate to women form such totally different backgrounds through motherhood. That said I am so grateful that I did all of the adventurous things that I did before getting married and having kids. It has allowed me a contentment in just staying home with my kids that I know would not have been there had I not already lived out many of my dreams. Of course we love to travel with our kids, and look forward to adventures when they are grown, but once you have children there is a cautiousness that was never there before.
What do you view as the challenges of raising a child in today’s world?
From the moment a mother finds out she is pregnant the worry about the health and safety of her child begins. It is a challenge to give them the freedom to go out into the world and trust that they will be safe. I try to help them understand the need to take care of our environment, to contribute to society by caring for those who are not as fortunate, and not to take for granted their access to health and security that we have where we live.
How did you find World Moms Blog?
When I started my own blog at documama.org I had envisioned someday finding a global community of mothers sharing their experiences and world views to help us all gain a more universal understanding of each other. I was looking for global mothers online to communicate with, and came across worldmomsblog. It was my ideal blog, and so beautifully put together, I was really excited to find that it existed! Then I had the pleasure of meeting Jen Burden at Blogher this year, it felt like serendipity, and that I needed to somehow become involved in this community.
This is an original post for World Moms Blog. Elizabeth blogs at Documama.org.
Photo Credit to the author.
Welcome to WMB, Elizabeth! And wow, you’ve certainly packed a lot in 🙂
Thank you Alison, I’m thrilled to be part of WMB. I fee like I have had distinct stages in my life, my wanderlust years, my childbearing/rearing years, and now I’m excited to see what comes next (though I have plenty of rearing years left to enjoy with the kids).
And I still need to explore Malaysia someday!
Do visit!!
Hi Elizabeth. Welcome to WMB. It is great to have such a great and experienced traveler among us!
Thanks for the welcome! I love your photography, and “life story in pictures”! Great way to tell a story. I look forward to seeing more.
Welcome Elizabeth at WMB and like to see you one day in Egypt 🙂
Nihad, I had the pleasure of visiting Egypt many years ago and it was amazing, I’d love to bring my family back there someday, it is a place everyone should see in their lifetime.
I think in the future we should organize a WMB trip to somewhere, so whoever can come can explore a new country together. Sounds really fun to me!
Elizabeth — when I heard you introduce yourself at our Pathfinder session at BlogHer, I was soooo excited to meet you after we had been e-mailing back and forth for a while now online. What a bonus! I’m so glad that you’re joining our World Voice column with all your amazing global experiences!
Welcome!
Jen 🙂
Jen, I am so grateful to you for bringing me aboard, this is exactly the community of international women I was seeking and love hearing from all these global voices! A WMB trip would be great!!
Great interview post Elizabeth! So glad you are on board with us! 🙂
Nicole, thanks for bringing me on board! I was so happy to meet you at Blogher, and really enjoy following your travels and love your outlook on ThirdEyeMom!
Welcome Elizabeth! I went to high school in Portsmouth, RI and really miss the beaches there. Looking forward to your future posts!
Dee, I can not believe you went to High School in Portsmouth and are now in Laos! What a great age for proximity to those beaches too! We have enjoyed them all summer, RI is a beautiful place to live for sure.
Warm welcome, Elizabeth 🙂 Awesome interview and can’t wait to read more from you.
Thanks Maureen! It was so funny when I read the current post on your blog I had just sent in old films to be put on dvd from my childhood, and have no idea what is on them, but I know when I get them back and watch them I will have to prepare myself for a wave of emotion.
Welcome to the family! Looking forward to looking at your personal blog and reading your contributions to WMB.
Welcome! It’s great to have your join us!
*you* ; ) Going over to check out your site now…