by Angela Y (USA) | Jun 16, 2011 | Childhood, Culture, Family, International, Kids, Parenting, USA
There was an article recently in The Wall Street Journal that described how to help children remember momentous events from their lives. The key was to retell the story over and over and as they get older, relate it to current events. It was a day that I didn’t want big girl to forget, so I planned on making it grand and talking about it often.
It was big girls first ballet recital.
Big girl fell in love with ballet on her own. I don’t even recall how it happened. So at 2 ½ , I signed her up for her first ballet class. On Mondays for the past year, we have been taking ballet at a nearby studio. She loves ballet! There are many mornings that she gets up and the first thing she asks is “I have ballet today?”. To round her out, big girl plays soccer and takes swim class in addition to going to preschool. But her true love is ballet class. (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 Eva Fannon (USA) | Jun 14, 2011 | Being Thankful, Breastfeeding, Child Care, Eva Fannon, Family, Kids, Motherhood, Preschool, Sleep and Children, Working Mother
Picture the inside of a clock, with all its gears working in teams to keep the time. Sometimes, it feels like life is going smoothly like that. Other times, it feels like time may be moving a little bit too fast…which has been the case for me over the past three months.
The last three months have brought about changes in my life. They aren’t bad changes, they are changes that come with reasons to celebrate growth. It’s just that as a full-time working mom, I may not have slowed down to truly observe, mark, and/or take notes in my kids’ journals to remember them.
So, here I am, taking a moment to slow down and commemorate three milestones and share them with you. (more…)
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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by World Moms Blog | Jun 10, 2011 | Canada, Childhood, Eva Fannon, Family, Family Travel, Friday Question, India, Kids, Mexico, Poland, Polish Mom Photographer, Salma, Technology, Third Eye Mom, Transportation, Travel, USA
This week’s Friday Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Maggie Ellison. She asked our writers,
“What is one of your favorite childhood memories?”
Read on to see what some of our World Moms had to say…
Dr. Lanham of Arizona, USA writes:
“My favorite childhood memory is sitting with my grandfather on my grandparent’s front porch in Indiana while it rained. We would have a soda, sit in the swing and watch the rain fill up the lake across the street. I’ll never forget it!”
(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 | Jun 8, 2011 | Childhood, Communication, Family, International, Kids, Media, Motherhood, Music, New Zealand, Parenting, Toys
This started as a post about what happens when a mother gets ill, but still has a young family to care for. While we were busy doing research with a very nasty tummy-bug, Veronica published her post on taking her daughter to watch a game of college basketball, (NEW JERSEY, USA: Ladies of the Court).
It’s a lovely post about parents sharing their common passion with their child. The comments were great and they got me thinking – are our children genetically different to others? You see, during those few days when various ones of us were ill, the boys got to watch tv. This doesn’t happen in our house. Our kids aren’t allowed any electronic entertainment.
Before you jump to the conclusion that we are controlling hippy-freaks, let me reassure you that we have no electronic entertainment (for children) in our house for very good reasons. In fact, many years ago our eldest son was pretty much on a par with most other children of educated middle-class families. He watched educational tv and dvds every day, and he listened to loads of cds. He’d been to see The Wiggles on stage and a couple of other shows.
Then, a teacher suggested that a few of the behaviour problems we were having at the time might be due to over-stimulation. (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 Dee Harlow (Laos) | Jun 7, 2011 | Childhood, Inspirational, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Mexico, Motherhood, Parenting, Travel
The cliche that becoming a parent changes your world view in a profound way gets kind of old, but it is so true. My outward view of the world and how my children’s lives will be affected by their environment is at once richer and more complex.
The breadth of information and experience I desire for them to know is infinite; the protection I want for them emotionally and physically is visceral – all pretty predictable stuff in the cliche. What has surprised me, however, is the inward reflection on myself, particularly my memories, the way they have shaped who I am today. It makes me wonder how my children’s own memories will shape who they become.
Do you have memories from your early childhood which make you wonder if they actually happened the way you remember them? How did you feel at the time and how has that feeling stayed with you? Real or not, your memories exist and how you feel about those memories has probably impacted certain decisions or actions in your adult life. They have certainly impacted mine…in significant ways. (more…)
One of Dee’s earliest memories was flying on a trans-Pacific flight from her birthplace in Bangkok, Thailand, to the United States when she was six years old. Ever since then, it has always felt natural for her to criss-cross the globe. So after growing up in the northeast of the US, her life, her work and her curiosity have taken her to over 32 countries. And it was in the 30th country while serving in the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan that she met her husband. Together they embarked on a career in international humanitarian aid working in refugee camps in Darfur, Sudan, and the tsunami torn coast of Aceh, Indonesia.
Dee is now a full-time mother of three-year old twins and continues to criss-cross the globe every two years with her husband who is in the US Foreign Service. They currently live in Vientiane, Laos, and are loving it! You can read about their adventures at Wanderlustress.
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by Shaula Bellour (Indonesia) | Jun 1, 2011 | Childhood, East Timor, Family Travel, Husband, International, Kids, Multicultural, Shaula Bellour, Twins
In a few weeks’ time, we will be heading to the US for our much-anticipated annual home leave. Once a year, our organization covers the cost of flights to our “home on record.” Though our last physical address was in Oregon, our permanent address is my mom’s house, in a suburb near Seattle.
It’s the place where I grew up and where I usually say I’m from, even though I haven’t lived there in nearly two decades.
For our kids, home is here, in Dili. This is where their stuff is, where their beds are, and where their friends live. Although they don’t really remember our life before we moved to East Timor, they do know that they aren’t from here and will occasionally ask “Mommy, where am I from?”
I usually tell them that they are lucky enough to be from two places: England and America, just like one of their friends is from Sweden and Vietnam, and another friend is from Italy and Germany. Still, it’s a pretty abstract concept to a three-year old mind. (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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There was an article recently in The Wall Street Journal that described how to help children remember momentous events from their lives. The key was to retell the story over and over and as they get older, relate it to current events. It was a day that I didn’t want big girl to forget, so I planned on making it grand and talking about it often.
