by Erin M. Threlfall | Nov 7, 2012 | Culture, Indonesia, Social Good, Traditions, Uncategorized, World Voice
World Moms Blog has formed a strong relationship with GAVI Alliance, a public-private organization whose mission is to increase access to life saving immunizations in poor countries. To raise awareness of GAVI’s incredibly important work, WMB contributors have been invited to host “Global Tea Parties,” which are being filmed and made into a documentary film.
When the founder of World Moms Blog, Jennifer Burden, first shared the idea of the GAVI Global Tea Party, and invited Moms from around the globe to host their own, I was thrilled to be a part of the fun.
First, any excuse to host a tea party is a good excuse to me! I grew up with the idea that tea parties are a special way for women to gather together and share stories, celebrate big events, and grow closer in their acquaintance with one another. (more…)

Originally from the US, Erin has credited her intense wanderlust and desire to live around the globe to her nomadic childhood. Every two to three years, her father’s work with a large international company provided the opportunity to know a different part of the US (VA, OH, PA, GA, SC, NY) and eventually Europe (Germany and Italy) and Asia (Thailand and Japan). Though her parents and siblings finally settled down in the heartland of America, Erin kept the suitcases in action and has called Ghana, South Korea, Togo, Bali, and now New York home. Single Mom to a fabulous seven-year-old citizen of the world, she is an educator and theatre artist who is fascinated with world cultures and artistic practices. Her big dream is to some day open a school focused on well-being and inquiry based learning to meet the needs of all her learners. In the meantime, Erin and her Little Man Edem, plan to keep investigating theatre and influencing education, one continent at a time. You can read some of her ramblings and perhaps find the common thread by checking our her personal blog, telling all about This Life http://www.erinmthrelfall.com/
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by Alison Fraser | Nov 6, 2012 | Canada, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada which is a city just outside of Toronto. I am originally from the little town of Long Sault, Ontario.
What language(s) do you speak?
English is my first language. I graduated from secondary school with an official “Certificate of Bilingualism” but have lost most of my French language skills over the years.
When did you first become a mother?
My oldest daughter, Ryleigh, was born in 2003. My middle daughter, Camryn, arrived shortly thereafter in 2005 and baby girl number three, Quynn, rounded out the family in 2007. There is a 3 year, 8 month age gap between my oldest and youngest daughter.
Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work outside the home?
I work as an Environmental Toxicologist for an environmental consulting company. I have been with the same company for ten years and I am now an Associate with the firm.
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Alison Fraser is the mother of three young girls ranging in age from 5 to 9 years old. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Alison works as an Environmental Toxicologist with a human environment consulting company and is an active member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). She is also the founder and director of the Canadian Not for Profit Organization, Mom2Mom Africa, which serves to fund the school fees of children and young women in rural Tanzania. Recently recognized and awarded a "Women of Waterloo Region" award, Alison is very involved in charitable events within her community including Christmas Toy and School Backpack Drives for the local foodbank.
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by Maggie Ellison | Nov 5, 2012 | Being Thankful, Home, Inspirational, Motherhood, Natural Disaster, Safety, Tragedy, Uncategorized, USA, Weather, World Events, World Motherhood, Younger Children

A week ago, Hurricane Sandy made landfall very close to our home in New Jersey.
We live in a waterfront neighborhood, where some people live bay-front and the rest of us live on lagoons. Even though a mandatory evacuation was issued, we wondered whether we really needed to evacuate, since we live on one of the furthest lagoons from the bay and because we knew how many feet above mean high tide we are. But, with young children, we chose not to take any chances and heeded the warning. We spent the hurricane at a cousin’s house, leaving our home on Sunday. The storm was at its worst on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon we were able to return home.
From my cousin’s home, we watched strong gusts of wind come and take down trees and saw some flooding but that was nothing compared to what we would see when we went home.
We were very lucky. We could see the water line in our yard. If the water had come up another 1.5 feet, we would have had flooding inside our house. We lost part of our dock, stairs and walkway, all of which were still under water when we first got home. We had some branches come down and a shutter fly off the house.
We have now spent a few days working in and out of the house and are just about back to normal. We lost electricity but it was restored four days later. Now we have a freezer and fridge to clean out. We saved what we could, but couldn’t save it all.
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Maggie is so grateful to be raising her 2 children with her husband in the low country of South Carolina. Life at the beach is what she’s always known, although living in SC is new to this NJ native! The beauty of the live oaks and the palmettos takes her breath away on a daily basis and being able to go to the beach all year is a dream for her. Art and music have also always been a part of Maggie’s life, and she is happy that her family has the same love and appreciation for it that she does.
Maggie and her family are also very active. Her husband coaches both kids in soccer, and they like to spend their time outdoors kayaking, biking, swimming, camping, etc. They try to seize every moment they can together, and they feel that it’s not just the family time that is important. They want their kids to know a life of activity and respect for the outdoors, expose them to new things and teach them about the world! Maggie and her family are no strangers to overcoming life's challenges. They've had to uproot their family several times when jobs have been lost in the economic crisis.
They also lovingly face the challenges of having a child diagnosed with special needs. Through all this, Maggie has learned to celebrate the good times and never take them for granted. Her family is everything to her, and she is incredibly grateful for every day she has with them and for every moment she has shared with them. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell them she loves them and how lucky she is to be her kids’ mommy. How sweet!
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by World Moms Blog | Nov 3, 2012 | Polish Mom Photographer, Purnima, Rox is Brilliant, Saturday Sidebar, The Alchemist, Tina Santiago-Rodriguez, World Moms Blog

World Mom, Mom Photographer’s daughter watching TV
This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Alison Lee. She asked our writers,
“Do you allow your children to watch television? If yes, how much and what kind of TV programs?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
Ana@StumbleAbroad of Indonesia writes:
“We are very lucky to have very limited commercials on the kids’ channels so whenever Evan (my 2.5) year old watches Disney Junior or National Geographic he’s not at all drawn to the toys. We watch TV with him and change the channel if we think it’s inappropriate for his age (violence) or too scary (creepy animals). I try to put movies for him in Spanish so he practices the language, too. El Rayo McQueen is very funny in Mexican Spanish!”
Carol @ If By Yes of British Columbia, Canada writes:
“We had a no TV before age 2 rule, in accordance with the recommended guidelines by pediatric associations, although we made exceptions occasionally for watching sports with his father. Now that he’s two we are starting to think about letting him watch children’s programs, but he saw one episode of Sesame Street and didn’t seem to learn anything from it, so we’re not in a rush.”
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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 Karyn Wills | Nov 2, 2012 | Cooking, Family, Food, Husband, Motherhood, New Zealand, Older Children, World Motherhood, Younger Children
It began out of exasperation. Due to the logistics of Craig walking in the door at 5:45 pm and the smallest boy heading to bed at 6:30 pm, I’ve been cooking evening meals for the past few years. Craig is also allergic to cooking vegetables: something my mothering bones cannot manage with three very active boys in the house.
Then weekend meals somehow became my domain as well. Cooking on the weekend is not so bad: there’s more time to get my act together and fewer things to fit in before bedtime. I can create and extend my culinary expertise in ways that torment as much as they thrill.
I was pretty fed-up, though, at having to create reasonably healthy and reasonably quick meals every night of the week. So I invented Fend For Yourself Fridays as an attempt to cut down on my workload. And the dishes. And the grocery shopping. And my stress levels. (more…)
Karyn is a teacher, writer and solo mother to three sons. She lives in the sunny wine region of Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand in the city of Napier.
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