by Nihad | Aug 29, 2012 | Childhood, Discipline, Egypt, International, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, World Motherhood
I struggled, while raising my elder son, about which parenting style was best in order to raise a well-behaved child. I was struggling because I didn’t know how to balance being firm and giving him the tenderness he needed. I was raised in a very strict and conservative family and school. Love and emotions weren’t expressed in any way, only strict rules and orders. The main objective was to have obedient and well-behaved kids.
I didn’t want to raise my child the same way. I was convinced that it was important for me to show my love to my child. As my style didn’t match my parent’s style, I was criticized and blamed when my son committed any mistake because I didn’t punish or spank him. They thought that showing emotions and love was a sign of weakness. I was totally against these beliefs, and wanted to raise my son differently. But, sometimes when I was under the pressure of their blame, I found myself spanking him on rare occasions.
It has taken me many years to find out which parenting style I want to follow with my kids.
When my elder son was 7, I felt he was going through a tough time, as he had a new brother and his father and I were separating. At that time, I felt that he was suffering a lot and, although he loves me so much, I felt he was extremely angry with me.
I was consumed by my problems with his father, taking care of his younger brother, and my full-time job. I decided to consult a counselor and she advised me to hold him in my arms many times a day. In a short time, it made a great difference in our relationship and in his behavior with others, many noticed the change . It made him become more and more open, and he started to share with me his thoughts about what was going in his life more than ever. (more…)
Nihad is an Egyptian woman, who was born and has lived her whole life in Alexandria, Egypt. She says, “People who visited this city know how charming and beautiful this city is. Although I love every city in Egypt, Alexandria is the one I love the most.”
She is a software engineer and has worked in the field for more than twenty years. But recently she quit her job, got a coaching certificate and she is now a self employed life and career coach. She says, “I believe that women in this era face big challenges and they are taking huge responsibilities. That's why I have chosen my niche -- women looking for happiness and satisfaction. I help and support them in making whatever change (career change, life change, behavior change, belief change…) they want to bring more satisfaction and happiness in their lives.”
Nihad is a mother of two lovely boys, 15 and 9 years old. She states, “They are the most precious gifts I have ever had. I madly love them, and I consider them the main source of happiness in my life.”
Our inspiring mother in Egypt can also be found at Aurora Beams Life Coaching.
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by Courtney Cappallo (USA) | Jul 16, 2012 | 2012, Communication, Discipline, Domesticity, Education, Eye on Culture, Family, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Older Children, Parenting, USA, World Motherhood, Younger Children
We live in a fast-paced expressive world of almost forced informality. Most of us think we know how to act. You’d think that by the time people reached adulthood, they would have cultivated good manners. Simple observations would show otherwise.
Fred Astaire once said, “The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.”
Check this out: 9 out of 10 Americans (88%) feel that incivility is a serious problem and getting worse. Statistics prove that more than 8 in 10 Americans, both with kids and without kids, agree that bad parenting — the failure to instill good behavior in kids — is the major cause of bad manners (Bozell Worldwide/US News & World Report Civility in America Study 1999)
What is going on? There’s road rage, air rage, cellphone rage, sports rage, parking rage, bank rage, desk rage, and checkout rage. We are impatient — and when someone slows us down, we get rude and angry. (more…)
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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by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | May 24, 2012 | Discipline, Kids, Life Lesson, Parenting, USA
One of the best pieces of advice I got as a new parent was: “children and pets both require sturdy fences.” Meaning, in order for them to understand their limitations, you must establish clear and consistent rules (or “fences”) for them to thrive within.
A few years later, I attended a parenting lecture on discipline, hosted by a local mother’s group, where I heard this mantra repeated. The speaker was Lynne Griffin, author of a popular parenting book, Negotiation Generation, and a firm believer in the power of “fences” for children. The wisdom Lynne espoused in her lecture inspired me enough to purchase her book and interested my husband enough to read it when I was done.
At the time, we were living in a well-heeled Boston suburb, where we regularly encountered children with sprawling kingdoms but few fences defining their boundaries. In quite a few cases we observed late-in-life parents, who doted on their children so excessively, who met their every wish so frequently, that the children were completely out of control. According to Griffin, enforcing just a few, consistent rules and erecting some fences could put these kids back in place. The book and Griffin’s message spoke to us. (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 Lady Jennie (France) | Mar 22, 2012 | Culture, Discipline, Education, Eye on Culture, Food, France, Parenting
I think that by now everyone knows about the famous (infamous?) article on how French parents are superior.
Of course, as a mother living in France, I was sent this article by about ten different people. At first, I sort of skimmed it and dismissed it since I tend to parent in much the same way as the French supposedly do – authoritative no’s and a complete expectation that I will be obeyed.
My youngest is three and he consistently proves me wrong on this point.
But in preparing to write this post, I really gave the article the attention it deserved. I found that there was some value to what she was saying in that teaching children the (more…)
Jennie has lived in Taiwan, New York City and East Africa, and currently lives just outside of Paris with her French husband. She speaks rudimentary Mandarin, passable French and has had a varied career in Human Resources, Asian financial sales and humanitarian work. She is currently a mother to three young children, with writing and teaching gigs on the side, and blogs at A Lady in France.
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by Mama Mzungu (Kenya) | Mar 1, 2012 | Childhood, Culture, Discipline, Education, International, Kenya, Living Abroad, Multicultural, Parenting, World Motherhood
A few days ago a good friend sent me this article provokingly titled “Why French Parenting is Superior” Maybe you’ve read it? I’m a bit out of the loop here in Western Kenya, but I’m assuming it’s getting a lot of attention because even my 24 year-old male colleague had heard of it.
Anyway, the article starts off with the author’s observation, after several years living and raising kids in France, that French kids are simply better behaved. They sit quietly at the table, acquiesce to parents’ demands and know how to play peacefully by themselves. This is laid out in stark contrast to the tantrums and power struggles seen all over American playgrounds.
So, what’s going on here?
First, the author asserts that the French view their role more as “educators” than “disciplinarians,” which gives them more patience and a slightly different perspective in the face of tantrums.
In addition, French parents simply “lay down the law” a bit more firmly, but still lovingly. (more…)
Originally from Chicago, Kim has dabbled in world travel through her 20s and is finally realizing her dream of living and working in Western Kenya with her husband and two small boys, Caleb and Emmet. She writes about tension of looking at what the family left in the US and feeling like they live a relatively simple life, and then looking at their neighbors and feeling embarrassed by their riches. She writes about clumsily navigating the inevitable cultural differences and learning every day that we share more than we don’t. Come visit her at Mama Mzungu.
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