by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Sep 22, 2011 | Domesticity, Education, Family, Motherhood, Parenting, Relocating
This evening, after 13 whole days of Kindergarten, my daughter came home and, in her drunken-stupor-like exhaustion, asked my husband when we’re moving. This might rattle some parents but in our house it’s a perfectly logical question…we’ve moved a lot.
Our moves might not rival fellow World Moms Blogger, Dee Harlow’s, who moves every two years, but in the five-and-a-half years since our daughter joined this life journey, we’ve moved enough to precipitate such questioning.
Our daughter was born in Washington, DC; two months later, we packed up and hit the road. For three months we stayed in no fewer than nine different places before settling in to graduate housing at my husband’s Massachusetts business school. Our daughter’s first bedroom was her Pack N’ Play; she didn’t get a real crib until she was almost a year old. When she turned two, my husband (more…)
Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
More Posts - Website
Follow Me:
by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Jul 27, 2011 | Exercise, Friendship, Health, Hobby, Husband, Inspirational, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Travel, USA, World Moms Blog, Writing
Inspired by Dr. Lanham’s post last week about preparing for a child to leave the nest, I got thinking about what my own identities are beyond just being a mom. Aware that we all go through metamorphoses, we grow, evolve and change identities many times in life, I wanted to make sure I was in touch with who I am because I know it’s more than “MOM!”
Before having kids, I spent most of my life trying to grow up. In my twenties, I got bitten by the bug and started traveling internationally, specifically, backpacking. One of the things I found most thrilling about traveling was the ability to “reinvent myself” at every new destination. I keenly remember trying hard to avoid labels; especially the label of being American. I even went so far, while traveling in the Middle East, as to sew a patch of the Canadian flag on my pack. I discovered a lot about myself that decade. (more…)
Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
More Posts - Website
Follow Me:
by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Jun 30, 2011 | Education, Family, International, Japan, Kids, Language, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, Preschool, Technology, USA, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. If you are familiar at all with the Boston Marathon, we’re half way in, half way out (13.1 mi from the start or finish line).
No, I’m not from here. I grew up outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an area known as the “Main Line.” But also in New England, where I spent my summers and attended boarding school from an early age. My husband and I met in Boston, moved to Washington, DC for a few years and then returned here for business school and to raise our kids.
What language(s) do you speak?
I speak English and Japanese. My husband and kids speak English and Mandarin Chinese. If I want to keep up, I better start learning Chinese soon or my two-year-old is going to start plotting cookie jar raids with his sister and I’ll never know! (more…)
Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
More Posts - Website
Follow Me:
by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | May 25, 2011 | Culture, Health, International, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, USA
Here in the USA, circumcision’s a big deal. It’s a big financial deal for the hospitals performing the procedure, it’s a big deliberated deal for the parents of a newborn male and, I can only assume, a big traumatizing deal for the baby going under the knife.
When I was pregnant with our second and final child two-and-a-half years ago, I hadn’t intended to find out the baby’s gender but when a pronoun slipped at an ultrasound appointment and I learned I was having a boy, I was thrilled. At the time, my close friend, RO, also was pregnant and already knew she was having a boy. Our daughters were four days apart, we lived within a mile of each other and now the due dates for our sons also would be just a few days apart.
We openly talked about the new challenges we might face raising sons and our stances on circumcision, which we both felt apprehensive about. Neither of us needed to conduct it for religious reasons (both the Jewish and Islamic cultures practice circumcision as acts of commandments) yet both of us had grown up in a generation where the practice was wide-spread. (more…)
Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
More Posts - Website
Follow Me:
by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Apr 6, 2011 | Education, Family, Family Travel, Husband, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, Travel, USA
Shortly before I met my husband, I spent three years living abroad. Two of them in one place and the final in transit back from Kumamoto, Japan to the east coast of the United States, the slowest way possible.
Three months after I met my husband, he invited me to join him for a destination wedding in Brazil. Four months later, he lost his job and decided he wanted to see more of the world too. He spent the next six months traveling around China and SE Asia and for five, blissful weeks during the holidays I joined him in Thailand and Laos.
In our four years together pre-kids, we traveled to nine different countries. Our attraction to one-another had a lot to do with our mutual desire to live abroad someday and raise our future kids that way too .
So it comes as somewhat of a surprise to me that here I sit, ten years later, just 11 miles from where we first met.
(more…)
Kyla was born in suburban Philadelphia but spent most of her time growing up in New England. She took her first big, solo-trip at age 14, when she traveled to visit a friend on a small Greek island. Since then, travels have included: three months on the European rails, three years studying and working in Japan, and nine months taking the slow route back from Japan to the US when she was done. In addition to her work as Managing Editor of World Moms Network, Kyla is a freelance writer, copy editor, recovering triathlete and occasional blogger. Until recently, she and her husband resided outside of Boston, Massachusetts, where they were raising two spunky kids, two frisky cats, a snail, a fish and a snake. They now live outside of Lisbon, Portugal with two spunky teens and three frisky cats. You can read more about Kyla’s outlook on the world and parenting on her personal blogs, Growing Muses And Muses Where We Go
More Posts - Website
Follow Me:
This evening, after 13 whole days of Kindergarten, my daughter came home and, in her drunken-stupor-like exhaustion, asked my husband when we’re moving. This might rattle some parents but in our house it’s a perfectly logical question…we’ve moved a lot.
