by Madpsychmum (Singapore) | Feb 16, 2012 | Child Care, Education, Motherhood, Parenting, Singapore, Working Mother, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview, World Motherhood
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?I was born and bred in sunny Singapore.
What language(s) do you speak?
I speak English, Chinese and a little Cantonese
When did you first become a mother?
In July 2010
Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work?
I used to be a stay-at-home mom for a while when my girl was young but now I’m working full-time.
Why do you blog/write?
Because I enjoy documenting my little girl’s growth and wanna share things I learned about breastfeeding, weaning, child development that I have learned over the course of my journey.
How would you say that you are different from other mothers?
I suppose I’m not any different from other mothers. I’m just as protective, just as crazy about my kid, just
(more…)Madeline lives in Singapore, a tiny cosmopolitan island in Southeast Asia. She is a mother to a beautiful and intelligent little girl born in July 2010.
Madeline used to be a stay-at-home mother while she was completing her graduate studies in psychology at a local university. On completion of her studies, she has now joined the workforce and is working in the Ministry of Education (Singapore).
Madeline is passionate about children and education and hopes to make a difference in the lives of children living in Singapore. Also an avid traveller and hardcore advocate of breastfeeding, she regularly documents her overseas trips and nursing room reviews with incredible detail on her blog, MadPsychMum @ University of Motherhood.
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by Shaula Bellour (Indonesia) | Feb 15, 2012 | Child Care, Domesticity, Family, Indonesia, International, Motherhood, Shaula Bellour, Twins, USA, World Motherhood
One feature of living in this part of the world is the availability of affordable household help. In many ways it’s a wonderful thing, but it also takes some getting used to.
When we lived in the U.S., I was a typical multi-tasking mom – juggling work, two babies, one dog, a frequently traveling husband, and a 100-year-old house. I had a part-time childcare arrangement to cover my working hours, but given the steep hourly rate, in my mind even a quick errand had a “cost”. I would occasionally splurge on a house cleaner as a gift to myself – usually before family visited (and always a “deep clean” because it was so rare).
During those busy days, I would often daydream about how nice it would be if we didn’t have to spend our precious downtime scrubbing, sweeping, and mowing. How lovely it would be to have more time and energy for other things. How much easier life would be. (more…)
Shaula Bellour grew up in Redmond, Washington. She now lives in Jakarta, Indonesia with her British husband and 9-year old boy/girl twins. She has degrees in International Relations and Gender and Development and works as a consultant for the UN and non-governmental organizations.
Shaula has lived and worked in the US, France, England, Kenya, Eritrea, Kosovo, Lebanon and Timor-Leste. She began writing for World Moms Network in 2010. She plans to eventually find her way back to the Pacific Northwest one day, but until then she’s enjoying living in the big wide world with her family.
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by Melanie Oda (Japan) | Feb 13, 2012 | Culture, Japan, Motherhood, World Motherhood
There is an old man who lives a couple of buildings down. He is in no way remarkable, really. I often see him walking his dog or riding his bike to and from the local supermarket.
On Sunday afternoon, though, he transforms.
He is the Kami Shibai, Paper Theater, man. He changes from his everyday clothes, drab blues and grays, into his yukata (informal kimono) and his geta( wooden sandals) and his newsy cap. He looks as if he walked right out of the Yokohama of the 1930s, the pre-war Japan of his childhood.
He makes the rounds of the supermarket, banging his hyoushigi (bamboo blocks) that same echoing sound you hear at sumo matches or on winter’s evenings when the volunteers go around the neighborhood, reminding us of hi no youjin, caution against fire.
He distributes tickets to the children. The Paper Theater starts at four. All good children will receive a present at the end, he says.
And come four o’clock, a gaggle of youngsters have gathered in the corner of the supermarket where he has spread a swatch of carpet. (more…)
If you ask Melanie Oda where she is from, she will answer "Georgia." (Unless you ask her in Japanese. Then she will say "America.") It sounds nice, and it's a one-word answer, which is what most people expect. The truth is more complex. She moved around several small towns in the south growing up. Such is life when your father is a Southern Baptist preacher of the hellfire and brimstone variety.
She came to Japan in 2000 as an assistant language teacher, and has never managed to leave. She currently resides in Yokohama, on the outskirts of Tokyo (but please don't tell anyone she described it that way! Citizens of Yokohama have a lot of pride). No one is more surprised to find her here, married to a Japanese man and with two bilingual children (aged four and seven), than herself. And possibly her mother.
You can read more about her misadventures in Asia on her blog, HamakkoMommy.
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by Ruth | Feb 10, 2012 | Life Balance, Me-Time, Motherhood, Parenting, Ruth Wong, South Korea, World Motherhood, Writing
I stared at the email I received a week ago. Today’s the last day to make my decision but I might have missed the deadline. I wasn’t too sure – should the cut off time be based on US time while I’m here on the other side of the world? I could have checked, but…
Anyway, that didn’t matter. The fact was, at that very last-minute, I was still feeling unsure about my decision.
So, as I often do in such situations, I said a silent prayer.
Then I clicked on the link and waited… A new window opened.
I looked at the screen; peace descended upon me. The screen is still there. I knew right then what I needed to do.
*******
Three days ago, I renewed my membership with the Association of Image Consultants International (AICI).
You see, I’m trained as an image consultant but it’s something that I never really told many people about. When I first decided to get trained, I thought I would set up an image business. Then I got pregnant and decided to shelf the plan until after I gave birth. Never did I anticipate how busy being a mom would be, especially a first-time mom, and juggling my (more…)
Ruth lives in Singapore, a tiny island 137 kilometres north of the equator. After graduating from university, she worked as a medical social worker for a few years before making a switch to HR and worked in various industries such as retail, banking and manufacturing. In spite of the invaluable skills and experiences she had gained during those years, she never felt truly happy or satisfied. It was only when she embarked on a journey to rediscover her strengths and passion that this part of her life was transformed. Today, Ruth is living her dreams as a writer. Ironically, she loves what she does so much that at one point, she even thought that becoming a mom would hinder her career. Thanks to her husband’s gentle persuasions, she now realises what joy she would have missed out had she not changed her mind. She is now a happy WAHM. Ruth launched MomME Circle, a resource site to support and inspire moms to create a life and business they love. She has a personal blog Mommy Café where she writes about her son's growing up and shares her interests such as food and photography.
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by Veena Davis (Singapore) | Feb 3, 2012 | Babies, Husband, India, Parenting, Post Partum Depression, Pregnancy
Tonight I was watching a movie ‘Mother and Child’ and some of the scenes in the movie suddenly brought home to me how much it paralleled my own thoughts. And I got down to penning this post.
Nearly two-and-a-half years ago, I was ecstatic about being pregnant. Every time I heard that a friend had a baby or that another one was pregnant, I was left wondering: “When will it be my turn?” or, as we say in India: “Mera number kab aayega?*” Thus it was with great elation that I received news of my own pregnancy.
I was all set for the long nine months and soon realised that a pregnancy was not the cake-walk that it was made out to be in Indian movies, where the heroine was assumed to be pregnant as soon as she started vomiting after marriage, and then there was a song sequence in which the family (especially the husband) (more…)
Veena has experienced living in different climes of Asia - born and brought up in the hot Middle East, and a native of India from the state known as God’s Own Country, she is currently based in the tropical city-state of Singapore. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Several years ago, she came across World Moms Network (then World Moms Blog) soon after its launch, and was thrilled to become a contributor. She has a 11-year old son and a quadragenarian husband (although their ages might be inversed to see how they are with each other sometimes). ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ On a professional front, she works in the financial sector - just till she earns enough to commit to her dream job of full-time bibliophile. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ You can also find Veena at her personal blog, Merry Musing. ⠀
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by Ms. V. (South Korea) | Jan 30, 2012 | Life Lesson, Motherhood, South Korea, World Motherhood
Show me a mother who hasn’t been humbled by being a new parent, and I will show you a person in denial. Even those who refuse to admit how little they knew when they became a parent, I know, were humbled; they have merely misplaced the humility for the time being.
While very few of us love to admit being wrong, I am grateful that each time I realize I am wrong, misinformed, unaware, or clueless; I am usually learning it from my child. He is definitely the most patient and easiest-to-please teacher I’ve ever had.
How amazing is it that from the very beginning of the relationship the learning is reciprocal? Yet the things we teach our child – how to count, how to read and write, how to tie their shoes, while very useful skills, seem so inconsequential given what they teach us – humility, patience, the unending depths of unconditional love.
Each and every day we are like two babies, figuring out the world together. (more…)
Ms. V returned from a 3-year stint in Seoul, South Korea and is now living in the US in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her partner, their two kids, three ferocious felines, and a dog named Avon Barksdale. She grew up all over the US, mostly along the east coast, but lived in New York City longer than anywhere else, so considers NYC “home.” Her love of travel has taken her all over the world and to all but four of the 50 states.
Ms. V is contemplative and sacred activist, exploring the intersection of yoga, new monasticism, feminism and social change. She is the co-director and co-founder of Samdhana-Karana Yoga: A Healing Arts Center, a non-profit yoga studio and the spiritual director for Hab Community. While not marveling at her beautiful children, she enjoys reading, cooking, and has dreams of one day sleeping again.
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