by Amy Hillis (USA) | Jul 12, 2011 | Being Thankful, Cooking, Family, Humanity, Life Lesson, Loss of Child, Motherhood, Parenting, Working Mother, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview, Writing
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I was born in Chicago, grew up in the suburbs. In 2004, my husband and I moved to Ohio. We live about an hour east of Cincinnati in a small town. Well, it’s small after growing up under the influence of Chicago! We bought a 150 year old house and are ever-so-slowly restoring it.
What language(s) do you speak?
I minored in French in college, but only speak English.
When did you first become a mother?
My daughter was born in August, 1990. I was 19 years old. I’ve had 7 children between my 2 marriages. Two have passed away. (more…)
Amy is a native Chicagoan that currently resides just outside of Cincinnati, OH. A city girl, through and through, she’s still adjusting to small town life. Amy has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art with a minor in French from Elmhurst College. She was working on her Master’s degree at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, when she became pregnant with her 3rd child. Although this angel boy was only here for a very short time – he left quite a legacy.
Nathaniel was born with a rare genetic disorder called Citrullinemia. Amy and her husband, James, went on to have 4 more boys, 3 of whom were also born with Citrullinemia. In January 2011, her youngest son, David passed away from complications of a liver transplant performed to 'cure' the Citrullinemia. Now a stay-home mom of 5, she started blogging in October 2010, while David was still in the hospital. Two of her other sons have had successful liver transplants to cure their genetic disorders.
Her 2 older children still live in Chicago. When not hanging out with her kids, she spends her ‘me’ time writing, sewing, reading & walking. Amy also spends a generous amount of time online. She can be found on Twitter @transplantedx3. On Facebook and on her Website <a href="http://mytearstainedlife.com"My Tear-Stained Life
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by Mama B (Saudi Arabia) | Jul 11, 2011 | International, Motherhood, Parenting, Saudi Arabia, World Moms Blog
I just read an article on the first real-time study to be done on spanking. Researcher George Holden originally set out to study how often parents shout at their children. He asked the parents to tape their interactions with their children and was surprised to hear how often they spanked or slapped their children and even more surprised at the reasons.
One parent slapped her child for turning the pages of the story book she was reading him. Another mother spanked her child for approaching the stove (which was not on). And yet, another one slapped her child 11 times in a row because the child was fighting with his sister. (You’d think she would realize it’s not really working!)
The study spanned people from different backgrounds and races, so as not to be bias in one way or another. The parents were told that it was about their interactions with the children, and they were asked to roll the tape from when the children came home from day care or school until bed time. (more…)
Mama B’s a young mother of four beautiful children who leave her speechless in both, good ways and bad. She has been married for 9 years and has lived in London twice in her life. The first time was before marriage (for 4 years) and then again after marriage and kid number 2 (for almost 2 years). She is settled now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (or as settled as one can be while renovating a house).
Mama B loves writing and has been doing it since she could pick up a crayon. Then, for reasons beyond her comprehension, she did not study to become a writer, but instead took graphic design courses. Mama B writes about the challenges of raising children in this world, as it is, who are happy, confident, self reliant and productive without driving them (or herself) insane in the process.
Mama B also sheds some light on the life of Saudi, Muslim children but does not claim to be the voice of all mothers or children in Saudi. Just her little "tribe." She has a huge, beautiful, loving family of brothers and sisters that make her feel like she wants to give her kids a huge, loving family of brothers and sisters, but then is snapped out of it by one of her three monkeys screaming “Ya Maamaa” (Ya being the arabic word for ‘hey’). You can find Mama B writing at her blog, Ya Maamaa . She's also on Twitter @YaMaamaa.
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by Jennifer Burden | Jul 9, 2011 | Culture, International, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Tara B., WMB Saturday Layover, World Moms Blog
The name of the Saturday column is now…“Saturday Layover”!
This name was inspired by Mama Robin J of Canada who said, “Or something along the lines of After the Trip – to relate to the travel itinerary that starts the week off.”
She gave us the idea to tie the name into the theme of our weekly travel itinerary, where Kirsten Doyle announces our schedule for the week to come.
We had over 20 suggestions for the column name, and they were narrowed down to the four below. Twenty World Moms Blog writers participated in the voting and here is how it went:
- After Hours 30%
- Afterthoughts 20%
- Saturday Layover 35%
- Midnight Feed 15%
It was close! Thank you to everyone who participated!
So, last week I mentioned that I had written a little something on my personal experience with race relations. As promised, here goes… (more…)
Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India.
She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls.
Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.
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by Astrid Warren (Norway) | Jul 6, 2011 | Child Care, International, Motherhood, Norway, Parenting, World Moms Blog
The wee lad is approaching one and a half years old, and we have finally been given a space for him in a nearby nursery (childcare).
After going back to work in January (when he was one) we have had what we call a “day mummy”, a lady who comes and looks after him for us in the day time. She has also looked after one other little girl of the same age and at the same time in our flat.
We were hoping to get him into a nursery in January, but we couldn’t find one. So, this was our only option. (more…)
Astrid is a Norwegian thirty something, married, working mum to a wee lad who is almost three and a baby born in 2012! She grew up in Norway, but moved to London, England after she met her husband. After living there during her twenties, she has since returned to Norway and settled down in her nation's capital of Oslo to raise her family.
She finds herself slowly turning into her own mother as her free time is spent reading, walking, knitting and meeting up with other mums for coffee. (Ok, she still secretly loves going to the pub, too!). However, there isn't much time for any of the above, as she now enjoys spending most of her time crawling around on the floor, while playing with her children! Check out her blog, Quintessentially Burrows. She's also on Twitter @MrsSWarren.
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by Tara Bergman (USA) | Jul 5, 2011 | Childhood, Family, International, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, USA, World Moms Blog
This morning felt like it came directly from a typical family sitcom. It was a school morning, which meant I needed to have both my sons, ages 5 1/2 years and 14 months, up, fed, dressed, and out the door in time for the 40 minute drive to my older son’s preschool. (We recently moved, but are letting him finish out the school year).
We were in good shape. Come 1 hour before departure time, both boys (as well as myself) were fed. My husband was helping to get my toddler dressed.
My 5 year old called me to help him clean up after his morning constitutional, and I left him standing at the bathroom sink ready to complete his morning chores, which include brushing his teeth, getting dressed, making his bed, and shutting off his bedroom lights.
He is perfectly capable of independently completing these tasks and has done so many mornings. Some mornings, however, require much prompting.
Let’s back up to where I left him: standing at the sink ready to brush his teeth. (more…)
Tara is a native Pennsylvanian who moved to the Seattle area in 1998 (sight unseen) with her husband to start their grand life adventure together. Despite the difficult fact that their family is a plane ride away, the couple fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and have put down roots. They have 2 super charged little boys and recently moved out of the Seattle suburbs further east into the country, trading in a Starbucks on every corner for coyotes in the backyard. Tara loves the outdoors (hiking, biking, camping). And, when her family isn't out in nature, they are hunkered down at home with friends, sharing a meal, playing games, and generally having fun. She loves being a stay-at-home mom and sharing her experiences on World Moms Network!
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by Jennifer Burden | Jul 4, 2011 | Childhood, Culture, Eye on Culture, Family, Holiday, Motherhood, Parenting, USA, World Moms Blog
Growing up, my best memories of July 4th, the U.S. Independence Day, were picking out my clothes in shades of red, white and blue, helping my mom put our U.S. flag outside our house and getting to run around with fire sparklers around our backyard at night.
Sparklers were for the younger kids (say 8 years old and up), while the big kids were helping the adults set off fireworks on our side yard. You’re not allowed to light off your own fireworks now in NJ for safety reasons, come to think about it, I’m pretty sure that you weren’t allowed to back then either.
I can still smell the savory scents of the day: hotdogs, sauerkraut, hamburgers, sausage, peppers and onions coming from the grill, and the aroma of mom’s potato salad, barbecue chicken and corn on the cob coming from the kitchen. We barbecued all day in our backyard, and my parents would have their friends over. And, everyone brought their kids, so the kids were always off playing on their own.
My mom would also make a U.S. flag cake, decorated with blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream, and my dad would stand over the grill until everyone had their fill. I can still hear him calling me his “bicentennial baby” because I was born in the year of my nation’s bicentennial, 1976. (more…)
Jennifer Burden is the Founder and CEO of World Moms Network, an award winning website on global motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. World Moms Network writes from over 30 countries, has over 70 contributors and was listed by Forbes as one of the “Best 100 Websites for Women”, named a “must read” by The New York Times, and was recommended by The Times of India.
She was also invited to Uganda to view UNICEF’s family health programs with Shot@Life and was previously named a “Global Influencer Fellow” and “Social Media Fellow” by the UN Foundation. Jennifer was invited to the White House twice, including as a nominated "Changemaker" for the State of the World Women Summit. She also participated in the One Campaign’s first AYA Summit on the topic of women and girl empowerment and organized and spoke on an international panel at the World Bank in Washington, DC on the importance of a universal education for all girls. Her writing has been featured by Baby Center, Huffington Post, ONE.org, the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life, and The Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists.” She is currently a candidate in Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in the Executive Masters of Public Affairs program, where she hopes to further her study of global policies affecting women and girls.
Jennifer can be found on Twitter @JenniferBurden.
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Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
