by Kristen | Dec 16, 2011 | Cooking, Friendship, Inspirational, Life Lesson, Living Abroad, Miscarriage, Motherhood, Multicultural, Pregnancy, Switzerland, World Motherhood
I won’t lie, one of the biggest perks about Switzerland is the fabulous cheese, bread and chocolate. I have the extra pounds to prove that we have indeed enjoyed it! Our kids have no doubt developed a more cultured palate living here.
One of my goals while living here has been to learn to make the traditional “Bern bread” also known as Zopf bread. It is delicious twisted bread that can be enjoyed by tearing off part of the braid or slicing for sandwiches and soups. Any way you eat it, it’s wonderful. When my 2-year-old went on food strikes, zopf was his weakness!
I recently called a Swiss friend and asked if she would be interested in spending an afternoon teaching me how to make the bread. She gladly agreed and we set a date. My 4-year old teetered on a chair and got his (more…)
Kristen is a stay-at-home to two little boys, Jackson (4 yrs) and Owen (nearly 2 yrs). She was born in New York, but eventually made her way down to Texas. She and her husband, Seth, met in Dallas and were married in December 2005. Nine months into their marriage Seth received a call that he had landed his dream job, one catch, it involved world wide assignment. The adventure took them from Texas to Washington, D.C., on to Bogotá, Colombia and then back to Washington, D.C before bringing them to Bern, Switzerland! Kristen and her family have currently lived in Bern for more than 1 year, where her husband works for the US Department of State. Four moves and 2 children in nearly 6 years of marriage have made for quite the adventure in motherhood! Kristen finds motherhood to be one of the most humbling and character building things she has ever experienced. The responsibility of raising boys with integrity and respect at times feels daunting, but she couldn’t imagine doing anything else!
Kristen is a Speech Language Pathologist but has taken time away from working to focus on her family. Although she enjoys the travel and adventure involved in her husband’s career, she often finds herself feeling far from home and working to make the most of time abroad!
On her blog, Seasons Worth Savoring, Kristen writes about daily life with two little boys, including her experiences as she navigates a foreign culture and walks by faith. In her free time, or rather in her busy time with two boys attached to her legs, Kristen enjoys cooking, photography, antique and thrift store shopping, working on crafts, and blogging.
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by Frelle (USA) | Dec 9, 2011 | Being Thankful, Divorce, Domesticity, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, USA, Working Mother, World Motherhood
Before moving out of my ex-husband’s house, the anticipation of having my own space and living apart was partly exciting and partly terrifying.
I was nervous about finding an affordable apartment and had no idea how I was going to afford all the necessities to fill it. But I was thrilled finally to be starting a life in a separate residence after 18 months of being separated-but-not-living-separately.
I spent a lot of time researching and visiting potential apartment complexes, scouring Goodwill stores and watching Craigslist and Freecycle to secure furniture and small appliances and other necessities for a new apartment.
I’m grateful that my new place was the least expensive apartment complex but the one I most wanted to move into. It’s a wonderful bargain for the square footage, the woods behind the (more…)
Jenna grew up in the midwestern US, active in music and her church community from a young age. She developed a love of all things literary thanks to her mom, and a love of all things science fiction thanks to her dad. She left the midwest in her early twenties and has lived in the south ever since.
On her blog, she tries to write words that make a difference to people. Long before she attended college to major in Special Ed and Psychology, she became an advocate for special needs and invisible disabilities. She's always been perceptive of and encouraging to those who struggle to fit in. Having been through several dark seasons in her own life, she's found empowerment in being transparent and vulnerable about her emotions, making deep and lasting friendships, and finding courage to write from her heart. Her biggest wish is to raise her kids to be compassionate people who love well.
She's been online since 1993, with a total of 19 years of social media exposure. Having friends she doesn't know in real life has been normal for her since her junior year in college, and she's grateful every day for the ways technology helps her stay in touch with friends from all over the world.
Jenna lives in a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, and is a freelance writer and a stay at home single mom to 3 girls and a boy. She blogs at MadeMoreBeautiful.comMadeMoreBeautiful.com.
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by Melanie Oda (Japan) | Nov 30, 2011 | Being Thankful, Japan, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Natural Disaster, World Motherhood
It’s that time of year again. New Year’s is the biggest holiday on the Japanese calendar, and as it approaches Japanese TV is full of “talent” (celebrities with no actual, recognizable talent) reflecting on the year that has passed.
And it’s been an awful one for everyone in eastern Honshu.
So I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on the things I am thankful for thus far in 2011:
-I’m thankful we didn’t die in the earthquake on March 11. For two or three minutes there, I wasn’t so sure.
-I’m thankful my son was home with the flu that day. So many children ended up spending the night at school and daycare because their parents were unable to come home from work. Not to mention the parents who never came, or the children who never made it home from school. (more…)
If you ask Melanie Oda where she is from, she will answer "Georgia." (Unless you ask her in Japanese. Then she will say "America.") It sounds nice, and it's a one-word answer, which is what most people expect. The truth is more complex. She moved around several small towns in the south growing up. Such is life when your father is a Southern Baptist preacher of the hellfire and brimstone variety.
She came to Japan in 2000 as an assistant language teacher, and has never managed to leave. She currently resides in Yokohama, on the outskirts of Tokyo (but please don't tell anyone she described it that way! Citizens of Yokohama have a lot of pride). No one is more surprised to find her here, married to a Japanese man and with two bilingual children (aged four and seven), than herself. And possibly her mother.
You can read more about her misadventures in Asia on her blog, HamakkoMommy.
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by Mama B (Saudi Arabia) | Nov 23, 2011 | Family, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Saudi Arabia, World Motherhood
My eldest sister got married very young (18) and started having her children very young, as well. As a result, she has children ranging in age from 24 to 10.
I loved watching her children interact. My sister and her husband worked hard to raise these children to be educated, respectful, hardworking and just all around decent human beings. Their family vacations are truly family vacations where they go to some remote place to explore it together.
They spend weekends at their farm, just themselves, doing things like repainting the farm-house or helping build or design the stables. They depend on each other and are what a proper family should be.
This is not saying that they don’t fight. (more…)
Mama B’s a young mother of four beautiful children who leave her speechless in both, good ways and bad. She has been married for 9 years and has lived in London twice in her life. The first time was before marriage (for 4 years) and then again after marriage and kid number 2 (for almost 2 years). She is settled now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (or as settled as one can be while renovating a house).
Mama B loves writing and has been doing it since she could pick up a crayon. Then, for reasons beyond her comprehension, she did not study to become a writer, but instead took graphic design courses. Mama B writes about the challenges of raising children in this world, as it is, who are happy, confident, self reliant and productive without driving them (or herself) insane in the process.
Mama B also sheds some light on the life of Saudi, Muslim children but does not claim to be the voice of all mothers or children in Saudi. Just her little "tribe." She has a huge, beautiful, loving family of brothers and sisters that make her feel like she wants to give her kids a huge, loving family of brothers and sisters, but then is snapped out of it by one of her three monkeys screaming “Ya Maamaa” (Ya being the arabic word for ‘hey’). You can find Mama B writing at her blog, Ya Maamaa . She's also on Twitter @YaMaamaa.
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by Susie Newday (Israel) | Nov 22, 2011 | Communication, Family, Grandparent, Israel, Life Lesson, Parent Care, Susie Newday
There is nothing like spending time with the older generation to make you appreciate the complexities, the wonders and the ironies of life.
For those of us who will be lucky enough to live to a ripe old age, life will come full circle. For those of us who have not yet reached the golden years, comes, instead, the challenges the circle of life present.
There is a good reason that we refer to life as coming full circle.
We are born helpless and totally dependent. Our basic needs are met by others. That is if we manage to even communicate what it is we want by crying, screaming or laughing. That is if we are lucky enough to have parents who are capable of taking care of us. (more…)
Susie Newday is a happily-married American-born Israeli mother of five. She is an oncology nurse, blogger and avid amateur photographer.
Most importantly, Susie is a happily married mother of five amazing kids from age 8-24 and soon to be a mother in law. (Which also makes her a chef, maid, tutor, chauffeur, launderer...) Susie's blog, New Day, New Lesson, is her attempt to help others and herself view the lessons life hands all of us in a positive light. She will also be the first to admit that blogging is great free therapy as well. Susie's hope for the world? Increasing kindness, tolerance and love.
You can also follow her Facebook page New Day, New Lesson where she posts her unique photos with quotes as well as gift ideas.
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by Karyn Wills | Nov 17, 2011 | Family, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, New Zealand, Parenting, World Moms Blog, World Motherhood
Call it Mummy amnesia, but I’m certain that our older two children were, well, older when they began to insist on doing things “myself.”
Our lovely Mr Butterfly is the grand old age of two and has insisted on doing things himself for a few months now. Once again I am faced with the mixed emotions of delight (that he wants to do things for himself and often can) and horror (at the things he wants to attempt).
Climbing has been a regular fixture in our family. Mr Hare (nine) spends a good portion of his life a-top tall trees, and Mr Owl was months old when he began climbing chairs to get on to the top of the dining table. I have strategies (mostly involving selected blindness and deep breathing) for dealing with the climbing.
It’s been a long time since we’ve fed Mr Butterfly, and cleaning up the mess beneath his chair, on his chair, beside his chair, on the front of the table, the side of the table and the top of the table, are simply part of my regular after meal routine. We have plasters and hugs a plenty, so in our house small people using scissors and knives is really no big deal. (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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I won’t lie, one of the biggest perks about Switzerland is the fabulous cheese, bread and chocolate. I have the extra pounds to prove that we have indeed enjoyed it! Our kids have no doubt developed a more cultured palate living here.
