Saturday Sidebar: What Was Your Best Ever Family Vacation?

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Susie Newday.  She asked our writers,

What was your best ever family vacation and why?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

Beach

Photo of a beach in Boracay, Philippines, courtesy of Alison Lee

  • Maureen @Scoops of Joy of Indonesia writes:

    I love this question! The best would be when I won a photo contest (my first ever photo contest) held by  a pretty big hotel chain and they sent my son, and I, along with my two brothers to Bangkok for free. The picture that won second place of the contest was being displayed at their hotel and we were treated like VIPs. Our rooms got upgraded to their suite and everyone was super friendly. We had the best vacation ever.

  • Elizabeth Atalay of Rhode Island, USA writes:

    Skiing, hands down! It is something my husband and I love to do, and every mountain has a ski school where the tiny ones go. Once the kids can keep up with us they are done with ski school, Finally the kids are old enough that we can now all ski together.

    (more…)

World Moms Blog

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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Saturday Sidebar: If you could turn back time and go back to just one day, which day would it be and why?

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Alison Lee.  She asked our writers,

If you could turn back time and go back to just one day, which day would it be and why?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

The day of Roxanne Piskel's son's birth

The day, Roxanne Piskel of Nevada, USA gave birth to her son.

RoxIsBrilliant of Nevada, USA writes:
“As much turmoil as there was surrounding my son’s premature birth, there is still a part of me that would like to go back and do it again. Even if everything happened exactly the same way, maybe I could hold onto the memories a little snugger and not forget so much of the beginning.”

Carol @ If By Yes of British Columbia, Canada writes:
“Definitely I do not want to go back to the day my child was born. I want to go back to a day when my nether regions weren’t bleeding, like maybe my wedding day. I had a blast.”

Alison Lee of Malaysia writes:
“I’d go back to the day my husband proposed. Though, I will change it a little to make it to a less early start, since he burst into my apartment at 5am to do that!”

(more…)

World Moms Blog

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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Canada: Bigger Things Than Politics

“Canada severs ties with Iran…

…Iranian diplomats are no longer welcome in Canada…

…Will this lead to war? Prime Minister Harper is quoted as saying…”

I’m listening to the radio as I drive from work to my son’s daycare, and it’s full of the news about Canada and Iran. Canada has withdrawn their diplomats, kicked out the Iranian diplomats, and we’re basically on the brink of war with this Middle Eastern nation. And as I drive, I think about the warm, gentle, loving people who care for my son each day.

All of them are from Iran.

There are a lot of Iranian expats in Vancouver, and I wonder what they think of this news. Are they worried for their family back in Iran? No doubt. Are they upset with Canada for causing such problems? Are they fretting about how hard this will make it for them to go home? Or are they supportive of Canada’s decision?

It must be hard to live in a country that is on the brink of war with your own.

But then, many Iranians are living in Canada for a reason. The Islamist government, political turmoil…? Most of what I know about Iran I know from reading Persepolis, so I’m sure my perceptions are out of date. I know that they don’t call themselves Iranians – they call themselves Persians, so that’s what we call them, too.

Which makes it easy to forget that they are even from Iran. (more…)

Carol (Canada)

Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world. Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write. Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets

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MASSACHUSETTS, USA: Art Smarts for Kids

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”  This is how I home-school my two children.  The majority of children in the United States of America attend some form of organized schooling either at public school, private school or a charter school.

I graduated from a public school, my husband attended a private school.  Both of our exposure to art came from the art classes our school provided. Neither sets of our parents enrolled us in an after school art program or exposed us to art on a personal level.

Too often I find that parents rely on the system to teach and inspire our children.  I believe that as parents, we are responsible for exposing our children to the arts while adding meaning to these experiences.  Art is an essential component of education. All children benefit from opportunities to create.  During these difficult economic times, arts programs are the first to be sacrificed in public schools.

I desire for my girls to be cultured. I want them exposed to the arts at a young age.  I believe the benefits of fostering a love and appreciation of the arts is immeasurable.  Because my husband and I have chosen to home-school our children, we  take full accountability and responsibility for our children’s education.  I cannot sit back and hope that someone else will teach or expose my children to the arts.  I take action and get the job done myself. (more…)

Courtney Cappallo (USA)

Courtney Cappallo is a mom of two girls, ages 7 and 4-years-old. She is living her dream life by residing on Cape Cod and being able to stay at home with her two little beauties. Courtney is currently homeschooling both of her daughters for 2nd grade and preschool, respectively.

Courtney uses a mix of Classical Education and Montessori. She is a strong believer in teaching to the five senses. Courtney’s homeschooling efforts are unique, as she uses the latest technology of the Smartboard. She is also taking on the task of learning Spanish as a second language, as well as, teaching her two children and husband Spanish.

Prior to becoming a homeschooling teacher, Courtney was the Director of Marketing for Simon Property Group, which is the largest U.S. real estate company. Courtney was Simon’s Director of Marketing for the Burlington Mall, Arsenal Mall and Cape Cod Mall. Courtney is a graduate of Villanova University and is proud of her small town roots from growing up in Oxford, Pennsylvania, which only has two traffic lights! She can be found making homeschooling lessons and more at Table of Four !

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World Moms Blog Update September 2012

World Moms Blog Update September 2012

Not fully recovered yet, as in there’s still a lot of follow-up to do, from the BlogHer conference which was over a month ago.  Actually, not only have I not posted about it here, but my bag is still not fully unpacked. I know.  So embarrassing.  What is even more embarrassing is that World Moms Blog editor, Nicole Melancon, is flying in and staying at my house this weekend for us to commute into NYC for the Social Good Summit together, and she was my roommate at BlogHer last month.  She knows the bag! I have less than 2 days to get it unpacked before she gets here.

Running World Moms Blog and being everything I can be first to my 5 year old and 1 year old daughters all day is tough work.  But, I’m really happy to do it.  Really happy for so many reasons.  Here’s my latest list of reasons:

1)   The momentum was lifted even higher when 8 of our contributors met for dinner in New York City last month on the eve of the BlogHer conference.  We munched on Greek food and talked about everything from what it was like to live where we live, our kids, travel, the blog, the posts we read, but most importantly, taking the opportunity for some of us to get to know each other on an even more personal level.  Best night ever! (more…)

Jennifer Burden

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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WASHINGTON, USA:  “The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Pérez”

WASHINGTON, USA: “The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ratón Pérez”

I arrived at the doorway of my daughter’s pre-school classroom to pick her up.  We made eye contact and I could see that she was very excited.  I knelt down to her level as she ran over to me and happily announced, “Mommy!  I met the tooth fairy today!”  “You met the tooth fairy?” I incredulously replied.  “Yes!  She wears glasses and wings, and a blue dress,” my daughter replied.  One of her teachers walked over smiling having overheard our conversation.  She explained that the Tooth Fairy, from the Center for Pediatric Dentistry, had in fact come to visit the children and talked to them about the importance of taking care of their teeth by brushing every day and not eating too many sugary sweets.

That was the first time my daughter had ever heard of the tooth fairy, but she quickly took to the idea and I could tell that she was already eagerly looking forward to the day she would lose her first tooth.

For readers who may not be familiar with the tooth fairy, you may ask…why?  Well, a couple of the older children in her class had already lost a tooth.  They informed her that after a tooth comes out, if she puts it under her pillow at bedtime, the tooth fairy will come while she is sleeping, take the tooth, and leave her some money in return.

Sometimes I feel guilty about perpetuating things like Santa Claus and leprechauns, but when I see how much fun it is (both for me and my girls), I quickly change my mind.  I have to admit though, on this particular day, I wasn’t ready to start thinking about another character.  I mean, the girl didn’t even have any wiggly teeth yet!

To add to this, since I was raised with Hispanic culture, my tooth fairy was a little different.  In my home, when you lost a tooth, you still put it under your pillow at bed time, and when you woke up, it was gone and money was under your pillow in its place.  But the money did not come from the tooth fairy.  It came from Ratón Pérez.  Yes, that’s right, a mouse.  I told my daughter about Ratón Pérez, but she did not believe me.  She said, “A mouse?  Really mommy?  Why would a mouse want your tooth?”  (I thought to myself…why would a fairy want your tooth?  I don’t know!)  I said, “Yes, really.  You should talk to Abuelita, she’ll tell you about Ratón Pérez.”  She did ask my mom the next time she talked to her, and my mom confirmed, that yes, he comes to take your tooth. (more…)

Eva Fannon (USA)

Eva Fannon is a working mom who lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her hubby and two girls. She was born and raised on the east coast and followed her husband out west when he got a job offer that he couldn't refuse. Eva has always been a planner, so it took her a while to accept that no matter how much you plan and prepare, being a mom means a new and different state of "normal". Despite the craziness on most weekday mornings (getting a family of four out the door in time for work and school is no easy task!), she wouldn't trade being a mother for anything in the world. She and her husband are working on introducing the girls to the things they love - travel, the great outdoors, and enjoying time with family and friends. Eva can be found on Twitter @evafannon.

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