by Jennifer Burden | Apr 11, 2011 | Family, Food, Gardening, Hobby, Kids, Motherhood, Parenting, USA
Several years ago we moved into our house, and we wound up having the previous residents’ vegetable garden filled in. My husband had never held a spade or planted anything in his life, and I was too busy with a toddler to even think about taking care of a garden by myself.
Then, a year later, we both read Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”, and it motivated us to change how we ate. We are eating more fresh foods (and cutting out foods from a box), and we think about where our food is coming from.
Growing our own vegetables in our backyard cuts the time it takes for the food to be harvested and get to our table, which means that the vegetables will retain more of their nutrients when eaten.
So, we found ourselves creating a new vegetable garden (yes, close to the one we had filled in a couple of years prior. Eek.). Our goal was simple: to grow our own vegetables, and here we were doing it in our nation’s “Garden State”… (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 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.
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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 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 Kirsten Doyle (Canada) | Mar 31, 2011 | Autism, Canada, Kids, Motherhood, Parenting, Special Needs
I seem to have a knack for doing things backwards. Where most people choose a career, go to college, and then get a related job, I went to college, got a totally unrelated job, and then decided what career I would actually like.
Where most people meet a guy, fall in love, get married, and have kids, I met a guy, fell in love, had kids, went through relationship difficulties, fell in love again, and finally got engaged (watch from about 4 minutes). And now, ten years and two children after meeting my soul mate, I am less than five weeks away from marrying him. (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 Allison Charleston (USA) | Mar 30, 2011 | Culture, Family, Husband, Kids, Motherhood, Parenting, USA
Our son is turning three next week. He wants a baby doll for his birthday so of course, that is what he’s getting.
I mentioned this to a friend last week and she asked what my husband thinks about it. Surprisingly, I did not even consider that he might have an opinion on the subject. In my view, our son has asked for an age-appropriate toy for his birthday so I was just going to hop online and order one that looked cute.
Turns out, I was right, and Andy just shrugged and asked if I needed him to pick it up at the toy store near his office. But, my friend’s question got me thinking about boys and dolls.
Chase is a typical three-year old boy, he loves just about anything with wheels. Right now, Thomas the Tank Engine toys maintain their ubiquitous presence in our lives but he also enjoys playing with generic race cars, taxis, buses, front end loaders, cement trucks . . .you get the idea.
But, in addition to all of the “right” kinds of interests, lately Chase is also extremely into everything involving babies. (more…)
Allison is a 35-year-old attorney-turned stay at home mom. This New York City mom lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with her 2-year-old son, Chase, and her husband, Andy. She is also expecting baby #2!
In her former life, she was an attorney practicing in a mega firm on NYC’s Park Avenue, putting in long hours, working hard and reveling in the fast pace of her life. She loved living in “the city”, and when she could, she took advantage of all it had to offer. But, when Chase was born over 2 years ago, that all changed. These days, the work has changed from writing legal briefs to changing diapers and the hours are longer, but she wouldn’t have it any other way!
Allison is enjoying her adventures as a metropolitan mommy, raising Chase in New York City and has gained strength from her longer-than-she-wanted-to-wait journey getting pregnant with her second child.
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by Angela Y (USA) | Mar 29, 2011 | Family, Hobby, Kids, Motherhood, Parenting, USA
My big girl at age 3 doesn’t know the difference between the library and the book store. She uses the words interchangeably. This has probably occurred because regardless of which one we go to, we do the same activities: browse around, read a few, and walk out with a book…or two…or three.
When big girl was little, I did my best to keep her toy count low. But I would never refuse books! I LOVE books, and I see that passion slowly developing in my girls.
My mom insists that I didn’t inherit my love for books from her. She likes to read, but not too much and nothing too heavy. My grandmother, on the other hand, is a voracious reader! She devours books! Growing up, and to this day, she always has a stack of books near by. (more…)
Angela Y. is in her mid-thirties and attempting to raise her two daughters (big girl, R, 3 years; little girl, M, 1 year) with her husband in San Francisco, CA. After spending ten years climbing the corporate ladder, she traded it all in to be a stay-at-home mom! Her perspective of raising a child in the city is definitely different from those who have been city dwellers all their lives, as she grew up in rural Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) surrounded by her extended family.
Angela Y. and her husband are on their own on the west coast of the United States — the only family help they receive is when someone comes for a visit. But, the lifestyle in San Francisco is like no other for them, so there, they stay! This exercise conscious mom is easily recognized, especially when she is riding around her husband-built bike with two seats on the back. And, when she’s not hanging out with the girls, you can find Angela Y. in the kitchen. She loves to cook for her family, especially dessert, and then eats some herself when no one is looking! Sneaky, mom!
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Several years ago we moved into our house, and we wound up having the previous residents’ vegetable garden filled in. My husband had never held a spade or planted anything in his life, and I was too busy with a toddler to even think about taking care of a garden by myself.
