by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Mar 15, 2012 | Economy, Life Balance, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Philanthropy, USA, World Motherhood
I’m half-way through reading my six-year-old The Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. If you grew up in America in the 1970s and ’80s like I did, you’re no doubt familiar with the popular TV series, Little House on the Prairie, based on Wilder’s books.
Both series recount life in the American pioneering days of the late-1800s, when homesteading was a common way of life and surviving meant living off the land.
I have always loved reading to my daughter and talking about books together but this book has been a particular conversation piece.
The premise of the book discusses life for a family living far from any modern (1860’s) conveniences. It describes in detail how they did things, like smoked meat and stored food for the winter, loaded a musket for hunting, or slaughtered a pig, and how each day of the week had a specific designation: “Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, Churn on Thursday, Clean on Friday, Bake on Saturday, Rest on Sunday.”
Aside from needing to explain to my child what many of these tasks are—some of which neither I nor most of my friends even do anymore—it really made me stop and consider (more…)
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 Roxanne (USA) | Mar 14, 2012 | Bedtime Routines, Childhood, Family, Health, Kids, Motherhood, Parenting, Preschool, Rox is Brilliant, Unintentionally Brilliant, USA, World Motherhood
A few weeks ago, my son had a friend over for a sleepover. This friend is just a few months younger, but they are in the same pre-K classroom and have developed quite a wonderful friendship.
I let the boys stay up late watching movies and playing superhero games because, why not? When I finished up the project I was working on, I told the boys it was time to brush their teeth and get ready for bed.
The friend went straight into the bathroom and started brushing his teeth. My son came to me so I could brush his teeth.
And suddenly I noticed that I might be babying my child, without even realizing it. (more…)
Roxanne is a single mother to a 9-year-old superhero (who was born 7 weeks premature), living in the biggest little city and blogging all about her journey at Unintentionally Brilliant. She works as a Program Coordinator for the NevadaTeach program at the University of Nevada, Reno. Roxanne has a B.A. in English from Sierra Nevada College. She has about 5 novels in progress and dreams about completing one before her son goes to high school.
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by Angela Y (USA) | Mar 5, 2012 | Childhood, Education, Motherhood, Preschool, USA, World Motherhood
In an ideal world, your children leave the house in the morning with their backpacks on and walk down the street to school or to the corner of your street and get picked-up by the school bus. That is how it works (almost) everywhere in United States. Everywhere, that is, except in San Francisco, CA.
A number of years back, San Francisco tried to diversify schools by creating an assignment system in order to give disadvantaged children better options. What it did was make a mess out of the system, and now they are trying to take steps to clean it up. In the midst of this mess, middle-income families, like myself, began to flee the city for neighboring counties where you go to the school where you live – as you should!
But we just don’t want to leave – if we don’t have to. So this year I am playing the school lottery game! The most talked about game in the city – if you have a school aged son or daughter. (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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by Diana | Mar 2, 2012 | Body Image, Pregnancy, Twins, USA
I recently found out I’m pregnant…with twins. What was going to be our second child turned into #2 and #3. This is exciting, overwhelming, and terrifying, and yet part of it is me just being a tad self-centered.
How will I look after?
I’ve struggled with my body image as long as I can remember.
But honest to goodness, I remember looking in the mirror at 7 months with my daughter Bella, huge as I was, and feeling so confident about it all. The stretch marks (I got like 4 but don’t hate me – the hyperemesis I had made up for lack of them), the huge belly, the cave of a belly button (mine never popped. It just kinda stretched into a large hole…).
And this time around, it’s the same, but more. I’m having twins. So at 10 weeks I already have a noticeable (more…)
Diana blogs on raising a toddler daughter, the loss of her twin boys, and their families' adoption in progress on the aptly named Hormonal Imbalances, as well as Babble, Oreck, World Moms Blog, and Attachment Parenting International. She's been syndicated on BlogHer and The Huffington Post. Smaller glimpses into her day are on Twitter and Facebook, and on <a href="http://pinterest.com/lifeasasahm"
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by Maman Aya (USA) | Feb 27, 2012 | Bilingual, Breastfeeding, Family, Motherhood, Travel, USA, Working Mother, World Motherhood
On Monday I am told, “you need to go to Paris for 3 days next week.” I say “OK”, but think, “How can I pull that one-off? I am still nursing!”.
So I go into action, first calling my mother (who happens to be French, has a large family that live in Paris…and who is the primary caregiver during the day while I am at work), and then I start looking up plane tickets and hotels. The only way for me to be able to go on this business trip is to take the baby, and therefore, I need to take my mother to care for her while I am at work.
In turn, I need to take my 4-year-old son as well, since he would be otherwise left without a caretaker while we are away. Tickets are bought, hotel reservations made (which is a process on its own, since I need is a place with a kitchen, so that we can prepare food for the kids and are not forced to eat every meal out), bags are packed, and we are off! (more…)
Maman Aya is a full-time working mother of 2 beautiful children, a son who is 6 and a daughter who is two. She is raising her children in the high-pressure city of New York within a bilingual and multi-religious home.
Aya was born in Canada to a French mother who then swiftly whisked her away to NYC, where she grew up and spent most of her life. She was raised following Jewish traditions and married an Irish Catholic American who doesn’t speak any other language (which did not go over too well with her mother), but who is learning French through his children. Aya enjoys her job but feels “mommy guilt” while at work. She is lucky to have the flexibility to work from home on Thursdays and recently decided to change her schedule to have “mommy Fridays”, but still feels torn about her time away from her babies. Maman Aya is not a writer by any stretch of the imagination, but has been drawn in by the mothers who write for World Moms Blog. She looks forward to joining the team and trying her hand at writing!
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by Maggie Ellison | Feb 22, 2012 | Entertainment, Family, Humor, Kids, Motherhood, Parenting, USA, World Moms Blog, World Motherhood
My son is 7 1/2 and has been taking showers on his own for a while now. Recently, he has been taking baths. The last 3 times, he has completely soaked the bathroom. The floor was flooded, the counters were wet, and I just couldn’t imagine what he was doing in there.
He’s really into weather and the ocean, so I always say, “No tsunamis in there.” He knows I mean that he can’t make big waves in the tub that cause the water to spill out.
He’s an honest kid, so I believed him when he said he hadn’t been making tsunamis in the tub after the first time I found the bathroom soaked.
After his next bath, it was the same thing. Water was everywhere. I started thinking he was just walking around the bathroom when he got out and not drying off. I thought of this soft ball that he throws in the tub. I figured that maybe he was throwing it out and getting everything wet. I meant to ask him about it, but I was busy so I dried up the floor and forgot to talk to him. (more…)
Maggie is so grateful to be raising her 2 children with her husband in the low country of South Carolina. Life at the beach is what she’s always known, although living in SC is new to this NJ native! The beauty of the live oaks and the palmettos takes her breath away on a daily basis and being able to go to the beach all year is a dream for her. Art and music have also always been a part of Maggie’s life, and she is happy that her family has the same love and appreciation for it that she does.
Maggie and her family are also very active. Her husband coaches both kids in soccer, and they like to spend their time outdoors kayaking, biking, swimming, camping, etc. They try to seize every moment they can together, and they feel that it’s not just the family time that is important. They want their kids to know a life of activity and respect for the outdoors, expose them to new things and teach them about the world! Maggie and her family are no strangers to overcoming life's challenges. They've had to uproot their family several times when jobs have been lost in the economic crisis.
They also lovingly face the challenges of having a child diagnosed with special needs. Through all this, Maggie has learned to celebrate the good times and never take them for granted. Her family is everything to her, and she is incredibly grateful for every day she has with them and for every moment she has shared with them. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell them she loves them and how lucky she is to be her kids’ mommy. How sweet!
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I’m half-way through reading my six-year-old The Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. If you grew up in America in the 1970s and ’80s like I did, you’re no doubt familiar with the popular TV series, Little House on the Prairie, based on Wilder’s books.
