by Karyn Wills | May 10, 2011 | Breastfeeding, International, Motherhood, New Zealand, Pregnancy
Tonight was the last time I will ever breast-feed. It’s a significant end of an era for me. This month is the ten-year anniversary of falling pregnant with our eldest son. I have my body back. Permanently.
To put it all in context it’s 120 months in total: 30 months being pregnant (3.25 pregnancies); and 79 months of breast-feeding. This all leaves a grand total of 11 months in the past 10 years when I could call my body my own.
I don’t begrudge the boys a second of the time I’ve ‘shared’ with them, yet I also feel a great sense of relief that it’s all over. I suffer immensely from baby-brain when I’m pregnant and feeding.
I become incredibly good at prioritising as I seem to move in low-gear. I constantly look like a train-wreck and have been known to hide in my pantry to avoid the mess in the rest of the house. (more…)
Karyn is a teacher, writer and solo mother to three sons. She lives in the sunny wine region of Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand in the city of Napier.
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by World Moms Blog | Apr 28, 2011 | Alcoholism, Family, Guest Post, Health, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Oceania, Parenting
My name is MATA.
The other day I was telling someone about my blog to which they replied “what made you ever think of doing that?”
This is a question I haven’t been asked up until this point, and at the time, I didn’t have an answer. However, since then, I have thought long and hard as to why I started my blog, and why I continue to write a post nearly every day.
Let me start at the beginning:
My name is MATA. I am a Mother. I have two children. I have a full-time professional career. I have two degrees from University. I am divorced. I live in a ‘nice’ apartment in a ‘nice’ neighbourhood. I am an alcoholic. It took me just on twenty years to say that last sentence out loud. (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 Karyn Wills | Apr 7, 2011 | Humanity, International, Natural Disaster, New Zealand
At 4.35am, on the 4th September 2010, the city of Christchurch in New Zealand’s South Island was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale.
It’s epicentre was close to the township of Darfield, 40 km (25 miles) west of Christchurch. There was widespread damage and power outages, two people were seriously injured and one person died from a heart-attack during the quake.
Originally I wrote here: anyone who lives along the Pacific Ring of Fire might have thought, “that could have been us.” 90% of all the world’s earthquakes and 80% of all major earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, which extends from New Zealand through Indonesia and the Phillipines, through Japan along the Aleutian Islands and along the west coast of the Americas.
Then, on the 11th of March just off the coast of Japan a huge (8.9 )earthquake hit. The tsunami it triggered killed at least ten thousand people, and injured many more. It caused massive damage to the northeastern coast of the country. Perhaps more than anyone else in the world, people in Christchurch understood and empathised. (more…)
Karyn is a teacher, writer and solo mother to three sons. She lives in the sunny wine region of Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand in the city of Napier.
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by Fiona Biedermann (Australia) | Apr 4, 2011 | Family, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Oceania
Do you remember how you felt on your first day of school or when you started a new job? When you didn’t know anyone, when there were new things to learn, and you were still finding your way around a new place?
You were probably uncomfortable because you weren’t totally sure of people’s expectations, and maybe you were hoping like crazy that people would like you and make you feel welcome.
As mothers we’ve all experienced one of these scary moments, both through our own experiences, as well as, those of us who have watched our children go through the first day jitters as well.
Combined with all of that was the hope that you (or they) wouldn’t mess up, and also that they would be able to take on the new challenges and combat the fear that accompanies them.
That’s pretty much how I feel today, my first post for World Moms Blog. My first challenge was discovering that I would have to post in WordPress, where the blog is hosted, as I’m a Blogger girl at heart. So, this raised the ol’ stress levels slightly. Learning new things is always an uncomfortable feeling, especially when you’re set in the way you do things. (more…)
Fiona at Inspiration to Dream is a married mother of three amazing and talented MM’s (mere males, as she lovingly calls them) aged 13, 16 and 22, and she became a nana in 2011!
She believes she’s more daunted by becoming a nana than she was about becoming a mother! This Aussie mother figures she will also be a relatively young nana and she’s not sure that she’s really ready for it yet, but then she asks, are we ever really ready for it? Motherhood or Nanahood. (Not really sure that’s a word, but she says it works for her.)
Fiona likes to think of herself as honest and forthright and is generally not afraid to speak her mind, which she says sometimes gets her into trouble, but hey, it makes life interesting. She’s hoping to share with you her trials of being a working mother to three adventurous boys, the wife of a Mr Fix-it who is definitely a man’s man and not one of the ‘sensitive new age guy’ generation, as well as, providing her thoughts and views on making her way in the world.
Since discovering that she’s the first blogger joining the team from Australia, she also plans to provide a little insight into the ‘Aussie’ life, as well. Additionally, Fiona can be found on her personal blog at Inspiration to Dream.
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by World Moms Blog | Apr 3, 2011 | Motherhood, New Zealand, Oceania, USA, World Moms Blog Itinerary
Meet us in Australia for the first time on Monday! Our new writer, Inspiration to Dream, is an Aussie mum of 3 grown boys. She also has over 52,000 words written already of her first book! This week she talks candidly about writing for World Moms Blog for the first time and taking on new challenges and facing fears in life!
From Australia, board a flight on Tuesday to the capital of the USA, Washington, D.C., where we will hear from yet another new writer, DC Blogmama! DC Blogmama is a lawyer and mom to a little girl. She was raised in the Pakistani/Urdu culture and is a Shi’a Muslim. We look forward to reading her first post!
Wednesday, we head north to Massachusetts to hear from Kyla P’an, our mom who has had quite a spectacular journey traveling the globe with her husband in the past. Her life has changed after having two kids, and she admits, “I’m a stay-at-home-mom who has trouble staying at home.” in this week’s post!
Thursday, we board another international flight, this time to New Zealand, where we check in with Karyn Van Der Zwet! Karyn takes time out to reflect on the earthquake that hit New Zealand over one month ago and focuses on how disaster survivors re-emerge stronger.
And Friday, Eva Fannon in Seattle reports on this week’s Friday Question! We encourage our readers to join the discussion by answering the question in the comments section. Come join in on the fun!
Today, April 4th, kicks off a special week for one of our writers, Amy Hillis in Ohio, USA. She and Kirsten Jessiman of Canada have organized a blood drive in memory of Amy’s late son, Captain Snuggles. For more information about the blood drive and how you can join them, go to the Captain Snuggles Blood Drive page on Facebook. And, help spread the word!
We look forward to having you travel with us this week!
— 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 Karyn Wills | Mar 2, 2011 | Family, Hobby, Humor, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, New Zealand, Parenting
I have a perfect pantry. I have matching jars. I have matching baskets. There are shelves on which certain things sit. Together. It is small and perfectly formed. It is organised. It is tidy. It is utterly gorgeous. And it is the only place in our house like it.
You see, we are all project people. We have great ‘start-up’ abilities and not such good ‘follow through.’ We do finish things, but it takes longer than anyone else – because we tend to go off on tangents. We think we can multi-task when all evidence points to the contrary. This creates an interesting home.
Our kitchen, for example, took nine years for my husband to renovate, and the rest of the house is a work in progress. We walk around piles of tools, and bits of wood are stacked next to me as I type. Craig is an archer. Archery equipment does not fit tidily in neat rows. There are a variety of things which fall on my head when I get too close to his archery cupboard. Most of them sharp and pointy. (more…)
Karyn is a teacher, writer and solo mother to three sons. She lives in the sunny wine region of Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand in the city of Napier.
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Tonight was the last time I will ever breast-feed. It’s a significant end of an era for me. This month is the ten-year anniversary of falling pregnant with our eldest son. I have my body back. Permanently.
