by Astrid Warren (Norway) | May 17, 2011 | Culture, Eye on Culture, Family, Holiday, International, Motherhood, Norway, Parenting
Royal Palace in Norway
Today is Norway’s National Day, which we Norwegians just call, “17th May”! This will probably sound strange, but this is a day where most Norwegians dress up, some in national costumes. And then, we head into the town centers, walk around in parades with marching bands, while singing and shouting “hurra” (hurray), to be followed by the eating of hot dogs and ice cream!
This is the day we celebrate our Constitution, which was signed in 1814. The traditional way of celebrating this day is a children’s parade. The holiday is recognized throughout Norway, and I am sure that wherever there is a school, there is a celebration going on!
When I was a child, this was, next to Christmas and birthdays, the highlight of the year. Let me explain…
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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 World Moms Blog | May 13, 2011 | Birthing, Eva Fannon, Friday Question, Language, Motherhood, Parenting, Pregnancy, Sleep and Children, Tara B., The Alchemist
"Ooh - updates! Oh goody!!"
This week’s Friday Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Tara B.
“It’s time for a where-are-you-now past post update. Pick one of your posts from WMB and let us know how it’s going for you on that topic. Did you learn something new? Is that project completed? Was the problem resolved? No news to speak of? Give us a quick update on where your story has gone since your post.”
Here is what some of our World Moms reported…
Margie Bryant of Arkansas, USA writes:
“In March, I wrote a post titled Closing the Door about the very painful decision that I would not be having anymore children. It was a hard post to write and even though my life has changed for the better in so many ways, finally saying “no more babies” out loud made it real for me.
Then, a few weeks after that post, I found my dream job. Cliché, but true. I am pursuing a degree in management and technical writing and found a job where I am training to take over for the current Human Resource Manager. This job pays more than I have earned in the past and at the same time, my ever supportive partner took a new position too. Finally, we are able to indulge ourselves and our children and even put money back in savings. We talk about traveling, buying a new home, getting another car; suddenly, I feel at complete peace with exactly how our lives are now.” (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 Kirsten Doyle (Canada) | May 12, 2011 | Canada, Family, Husband, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Wedding
I did it! After ten years of living in sin, the births of two children, and a seventeen-month engagement, I succeeded in walking down the aisle without tripping over my wedding dress (a dress that was made by my mother-in-law and was wayyyyy prettier than the one that English chick wore when she married that prince dude).
The week leading up to my wedding day was pure chaos. I had a never-ending list of last-minute details to take care of, and these weird little crises kept popping up where I least expected. I suspect that I spent most of that last week looking wild-eyed with panic with my hair sticking up in tufts, where I kept grabbing it to rip it out of my head.
With everything that was going on – the last-minute ordering of flowers, the finalizing of seating charts and printing of place cards, the wrapping up of guest favours, the steady influx of out-of-town guests – my biggest concern was for my children. How were they going to cope with this big day? (more…)
Kirsten Doyle was born in South Africa. After completing university, she drifted for a while and finally washed up in Canada in 2000. She is Mom to two boys who have reached the stage of eating everything in sight (but still remaining skinny).
Kirsten was a computer programmer for a while before migrating into I.T. project management. Eventually she tossed in the corporate life entirely in order to be a self-employed writer and editor. She is now living her best life writing about mental health and addictions, and posting videos to two YouTube channels.
When Kirsten is not wrestling with her kids or writing up a storm, she can be seen on Toronto's streets putting many miles onto her running shoes. Every year, she runs a half-marathon to benefit children with autism, inspired by her older son who lives life on the autism spectrum.
Final piece of information: Kirsten is lucky enough to be married to the funniest guy in the world.
Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Be sure to check out her YouTube channels at My Gen X Life and Word Salad With Coffee!
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by Jennifer Burden | May 9, 2011 | Family, Humanity, Inspirational, International, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, USA
For over 250,000 generations humans have been on this earth. In every generation there has been a mother who has given birth and, often times, a mother who has looked after a child, whether adopted or her own birth child.
The mothers who have come in the time before us are members of our sisterhood. Most have endured, just as we do, sleepless nights, numerous feedings, sore nipples, childbirth, the list goes on.
And, those mothers before us have also struggled with discipline, keeping a child safe, passing on traditions, acculturation, watching their children become parents, just as we do today. It is our nature as humans.
To the mothers of today: It doesn’t matter if you personally have had a good mother or a not so good mother. This force, this building block, this world tree of all the mothers that have come before us has catapulted us and gave us life.
It has made it possible for us to be the humans we are today, mothers who are taking care of our children. Today.
We are a part of something GREATER. (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 World Moms Blog | May 8, 2011 | Family, International, Parenting, World Moms Blog Itinerary
It’s the day after Mother’s Day on Monday for some countries of the world. Get ready to start off your week with some deep thoughts on motherhood by Veronica Samuels from New Jersey, USA. She will have you thinking in her post, “Catapulted by Mothers!”
Tuesday, join us for a flight to New Zealand with Karyn Van Der Zwet! Talk about topic changes. Get ready to talk about boobies! (And yes, you read that right.)
Wednesday, we head to the southern USA to hear from Maggie Ellison in South Carolina. She watches a child and has come across an obstacle to her own children’s summertime fun. This post is sure to get us all talking!
And on Thursday, our Scheduling Editor, Kirsten Jessiman of Toronto, Canada, is back to the blog from getting married!! We can’t wait to hear what she has to say!
Don’t forget to join in the discussion on Friday with our Friday Question led by Eva Fannon!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers of the world who are celebrating today!
— World Moms Blog
Our World Moms Blog logo was designed by the creative Erica Joyner Designs in Virginia, USA.
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 Astrid Warren (Norway) | May 5, 2011 | Bilingual, Communication, Culture, Education, Family, International, Language, Motherhood, Norway, Parenting
As some of you may already know, I am Norwegian, and my husband is English. So, our wee lad will have to learn both, Norwegian and English, at the very least, to communicate amongst our families.
But, learning these two languages is also the norm for all Norwegian children, as English is taught early on in our school system. I also hope that he will speak French, Spanish or Italian, as well, some day.
I have read that it is easy for children to learn two languages, but also that they may start to speak later than other children. No wonder! Learning to talk is hard enough, but having to learn two languages at the same time can’t possibly make it any easier! (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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