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
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by World Moms Blog | May 6, 2011 | Being Thankful, Eva Fannon, Family, Health, Holiday, Kids, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Sleep and Children, The Alchemist
While not all, but a great number of countries recognize Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May, this week we asked our writers…
“What is the best gift you could receive for Mother’s Day?”
Here is what some of our World Moms said…
Maggie Ellison of South Carolina, USA writes:
“A head-to-toe day at the spa with my sister would be the ultimate gift!”
(more…)
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 Purnima Ramakrishnan | May 2, 2011 | Childhood, Education, Exercise, Family, Health, Hobby, Holiday, India, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Sports, The Alchemist
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When we were little kids, my brother and I used to look forward to summer holidays. Usually, it was a full two months in most parts of South India. Both of us were book worms, and being the voracious readers we were, our parents had no problem in managing us during the summer holidays.
We both learned to read by the age of six because we were products of a strict education system, unlike today where the education system requires children to learn by themselves. And, most kids learn to read by eight or nine.
To make matters simpler for both us and our parents, there was a library just across the street where we used to live. We used to go there together, select our books, return the previous day’s books, pay our dues and come back home with a fresh huge stack to pour over.
The librarian became a great friend of ours. Life and holidays were indeed benevolent. We used to visit our maternal grandparents during part of the holidays, and there too, we became members of the local libraries.
In those days, in our little town in India, the concept of summer camps, summer activities for kids, special fun classes, and the like was still a novelty. And, even if some such classes sprung up in our locality, not many kids garnered enough interest to go over and check them out.
Everyone was more or less satisfied and well pleased with their own thing to do during the holidays. And, we were more than happy that our summer pleasure of reading from morning to bed time was not disturbed. Oh yes, our parents were a lucky lot in this aspect. They never had rambunctious kids at hand.
Ah, and now fast forward to the present day and, it is summer holidays for my son. He will be in the next grade sometime in mid June. I have 2 full months stretching in front of me, and I need to keep him entertained not only in the most educative way, but also with fun things in mind. (more…)
by World Moms Blog | Apr 28, 2011 | Alcoholism, Family, Guest Post, Health, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Oceania, Parenting
My name is MATA.
The other day I was telling someone about my blog to which they replied “what made you ever think of doing that?”
This is a question I haven’t been asked up until this point, and at the time, I didn’t have an answer. However, since then, I have thought long and hard as to why I started my blog, and why I continue to write a post nearly every day.
Let me start at the beginning:
My name is MATA. I am a Mother. I have two children. I have a full-time professional career. I have two degrees from University. I am divorced. I live in a ‘nice’ apartment in a ‘nice’ neighbourhood. I am an alcoholic. It took me just on twenty years to say that last sentence out loud. (more…)
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 DC Blogmama (USA) | Apr 5, 2011 | Birthing, Family, Health, Humor, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, USA
Where else would I start? I’m talking about the beginning of motherhood – the day my daughter was born is the date I’m going to use for myself. Certainly, many people would say a woman becomes a mother from the moment she conceives for the very first time, and I’m not going to refute or debate that.
I definitely bonded with my baby while she was in my belly, but in the interest of keeping things simple, I began this thing called motherhood on June 7, 2009, just about 22-months ago.
Our daughter arrived on her due date – right on time. I was working from home that week on account of it being hot and humid and not being able to rely on the good graces or [un]common courtesy of Metro riders in Washington, DC to give up their seat to a VERY pregnant lady. In addition to the hazards of commuting, the hazards of sitting at my desk had just gotten to be too much and so it made sense to really take it easy at Week 40. (more…)
by Courtney Cappallo (USA) | Mar 16, 2011 | Cooking, Education, Family, Food, Health, Husband, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, USA
Four years ago, my husband altered our family’s life journey.
He cleared out a little piece of our property, dug up our soil and put in a garden box. He started with one box of tomatoes. He will tell you that he had no idea what he was doing but wanted to give growing our own food a try. What inspired him to do this, he really can’t say…it was like a light switched on inside of him and then there was no switching it off.
My husband is the type of guy that takes action. He never does anything with half an effort, he is always full steam ahead. I really admire that about him. After his first gardening season, he realized he needed to arm himself with knowledge and take more action. My husband read gardening books, ordered gardening movies and read up on everything gardening related on the internet.
So here we are, four years later, and the progress is astounding. We’ve gone from one garden box to twenty-four. My husband cleared out a huge amount of brush, dug up tree stumps, dug up all the soil, assembled the raised -bed garden boxes, bought and assembled a green house, and now we have 1,000 square feet of gardening space. Quite a leap I’d say! (more…)
Courtney Cappallo is a mom of two girls, ages 7 and 4-years-old. She is living her dream life by residing on Cape Cod and being able to stay at home with her two little beauties. Courtney is currently homeschooling both of her daughters for 2nd grade and preschool, respectively.
Courtney uses a mix of Classical Education and Montessori. She is a strong believer in teaching to the five senses. Courtney’s homeschooling efforts are unique, as she uses the latest technology of the Smartboard. She is also taking on the task of learning Spanish as a second language, as well as, teaching her two children and husband Spanish.
Prior to becoming a homeschooling teacher, Courtney was the Director of Marketing for Simon Property Group, which is the largest U.S. real estate company. Courtney was Simon’s Director of Marketing for the Burlington Mall, Arsenal Mall and Cape Cod Mall. Courtney is a graduate of Villanova University and is proud of her small town roots from growing up in Oxford, Pennsylvania, which only has two traffic lights! She can be found making homeschooling lessons and more at Table of Four !
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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.
