by Ambre French (Norway) | Aug 16, 2011 | Bilingual, Motherhood, Norway, Parenting
Have you ever thought about what Noah’s Ark might have sounded like? A pair of all the animals in the world in one big boat would have been loud! If you crept into the eating quarters, would you have seen Mr. and Mrs. Duck talking to Monsieur et Madame Chien over a cup of tea? “Quack, quack.” “Ouaf, ouaf.” “Slurp, slurp?”
Well, we don’t live in a boat, and our animals are mostly in 2-D, but you can hear some pretty international animal sounds blaring from our windows lately.
I am French, and my husband’s Norwegian, and we both talk English to each other. Therefore, there are three strong languages, our mother tongues plus English, under our one roof. (more…)
by Purnima Ramakrishnan | Aug 15, 2011 | Culture, Eye on Culture, Food, Friendship, Holiday, India, Kids, Language, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, Preschool, Religion, The Alchemist, World Events
When I think of my country, India, I am reminded of a small snippet from the collection of poems” Geetanjali” by the world-famous Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action—
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
And, on August 15th, 1947 India awoke into that freedom. It was born as a nation, perhaps, for the first time. I say, “first time” here because before British colonization, India was a collection of small kingdoms ruled by individual kings, chieftains and tribes. It was never a single large entity as in a country before this time. Then, after the British left, all of India formed into a single whole country, and I am proud to say we still are. (more…)
by World Moms Blog | Aug 12, 2011 | Childhood, Education, Family, Friday Question, Husband, Israel, Japan, Kids, Motherhood, Parenting, Susie Newday
This week’s Friday Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Ambre French. She asked our writers,
“What is your biggest fear regarding your child(ren)’s future?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
Ambre French of Norway writes:
“In the short term I was told that most of what you teach your children should be brought in by the time the kid reaches three, after that it’s just consolidation. I’m scared to mess those years up! In the long term I am very afraid of drugs.” (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 | Aug 10, 2011 | Child Care, Husband, India, Motherhood, Parent Care, Parenting, The Alchemist, Working Mother
Where I live in India, you hear a lot of criticism or praise about whether you are a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) or a working-mom (WM) or even if you convert from one to the other.
It has been almost ten months since I became a SAHM, but I still receive judgments about my decision. Just check out these conversations…
Conversation # 1
Me: Wait a minute, why should you say sorry because I left my job? I am actually enjoying it…
Person X: No, No, I am still sorry that it had to happen this way…
Me: What? You insist that I should receive your apologies? Fine. Thank you. Oh well, it’s not like anyone died or anything.
Conversation # 2
Person Y: You lost it? I know, hard times… Economic recession, right?!
Me: I DID NOT LOSE my job. I just quit because that’s what I wanted and that’s what I chose to do. (more…)
by Susie Newday (Israel) | Aug 9, 2011 | Being Thankful, Bilingual, Family, Health, Humor, International, Israel, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, Susie Newday, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview, Writing
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I was born in New york and lived there until the age of 21 when I made Aliyah (emigrated to Israel) with my husband and 1 1/2 kids.
What language(s) do you speak?
My mother tongue is obviously English. I read, write and speak fluent Hebrew but with a dreadful American accent. (I have not mastered the talent of a rolling R.) My Hebrew typing is one step above slowly painful.
I also understand a bit of Yiddish and an even smaller amount of Hungarian. (Courtesy of parents and grandparents trying to talk about me in a language I didn’t understand.)
(more…)Susie Newday is a happily-married American-born Israeli mother of five. She is an oncology nurse, blogger and avid amateur photographer.
Most importantly, Susie is a happily married mother of five amazing kids from age 8-24 and soon to be a mother in law. (Which also makes her a chef, maid, tutor, chauffeur, launderer...) Susie's blog, New Day, New Lesson, is her attempt to help others and herself view the lessons life hands all of us in a positive light. She will also be the first to admit that blogging is great free therapy as well. Susie's hope for the world? Increasing kindness, tolerance and love.
You can also follow her Facebook page New Day, New Lesson where she posts her unique photos with quotes as well as gift ideas.
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by Carol (Canada) | Aug 9, 2011 | Canada, Family, Motherhood, Parenting, Religion
When you are the granddaughter of an Anglican minister and you marry an ardent atheist, religion is one of those things you discuss carefully before you have kids.
The brand of Christianity that I was raised on was very… metaphorical. I wasn’t asked to believe that God was actually a bearded man in a nightgown, or that Adam and Eve were real. My mother taught me that hymns and prayers were simply a way to reach God (whatever God may be) in a way which was familiar and comfortable. It was a matter of tradition and culture as much as belief.
My husband, on the other hand, comes from American parents who rebelled against their own parents’ Bible Belt values. His grandparents believed in the Bible in an extremely literal way which violates his scientific and logical mind. He associates religion with closed-mindedness, homophobia, creationism, racism, and sexism, all of which he detests. (more…)
Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world.
Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write.
Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets
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Have you ever thought about what Noah’s Ark might have sounded like? A pair of all the animals in the world in one big boat would have been loud! If you crept into the eating quarters, would you have seen Mr. and Mrs. Duck talking to Monsieur et Madame Chien over a cup of tea? “Quack, quack.” “Ouaf, ouaf.” “Slurp, slurp?”
