by Jennifer Burden | Jul 9, 2011 | Culture, International, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Tara B., WMB Saturday Layover, World Moms Blog
The name of the Saturday column is now…“Saturday Layover”!
This name was inspired by Mama Robin J of Canada who said, “Or something along the lines of After the Trip – to relate to the travel itinerary that starts the week off.”
She gave us the idea to tie the name into the theme of our weekly travel itinerary, where Kirsten Doyle announces our schedule for the week to come.
We had over 20 suggestions for the column name, and they were narrowed down to the four below. Twenty World Moms Blog writers participated in the voting and here is how it went:
- After Hours 30%
- Afterthoughts 20%
- Saturday Layover 35%
- Midnight Feed 15%
It was close! Thank you to everyone who participated!
So, last week I mentioned that I had written a little something on my personal experience with race relations. As promised, here goes… (more…)
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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by World Moms Blog | Jul 8, 2011 | Childhood, Eva Fannon, Family, Friday Question, Husband, Motherhood, Norway, Writing
This week’s Friday Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Maggie Ellison of South Carolina, USA. She asked:
“What are your religious views and how are they (or how are they not) a part of your life?”
Here’s how the World Moms answered in order as the responses came in…
Eva Fannon of Washington, USA writes:
“I am Roman Catholic and my husband is an atheist…which makes life interesting. Ever since I’ve had kids, I don’t go to church as regularly as I would like, but I have baptized both of my girls. (And yes, my husband attended both ceremonies and didn’t get struck down by lightning when he entered the church — LOL!)” (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 Mama B (Saudi Arabia) | Jul 7, 2011 | International, Motherhood, Saudi Arabia, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia and I am from there as well. I lived in London twice in my life, 4 years before I got married, studying graphic design, and 2 years after marriage while my husband was getting his masters (and I was attempting to finish my bachelors degree. It didn’t quite work out though). Both my husband and I dream of one day owning a house in Primrose Hill and living half the time here in Riyadh and the other half in London. How exactly we are going to do that still eludes us but we know one day it will happen.
What language(s) do you speak?
Arabic, English and I understand French but have failed to speak it fluently despite my mothers best efforts throughout our childhood and young adulthood to get us to speak it (she is fluent). (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 Veena Davis (Singapore) | Jul 7, 2011 | Child Care, Culture, Eye on Culture, Family, India, International, Kids, Motherhood, World Moms Blog
A recent book, Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother, about the Chinese-American method of raising children, almost caused a hurricane in the parenting world. Many were quick to defend their own parenting styles, some supported the author, Prof. Amy Chua, and yet ,others maintained their peace.
Parenting styles are so varied in different cultures. For instance, in my homeland, India, we don’t think much about teaching our kids a thing or two with a stick handy. It is supposed to be for their ‘own good’.
In schools, they may be subjected to the ‘cane treatment’ if they haven’t done their homework, for talking in class or for general misbehaviour. At home, their parents may give them a slap or two if they disobey. Even the elders in the family have every right to chastise the kids of the house. (more…)
Veena has experienced living in different climes of Asia - born and brought up in the hot Middle East, and a native of India from the state known as God’s Own Country, she is currently based in the tropical city-state of Singapore. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ Several years ago, she came across World Moms Network (then World Moms Blog) soon after its launch, and was thrilled to become a contributor. She has a 11-year old son and a quadragenarian husband (although their ages might be inversed to see how they are with each other sometimes). ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ On a professional front, she works in the financial sector - just till she earns enough to commit to her dream job of full-time bibliophile. ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ You can also find Veena at her personal blog, Merry Musing. ⠀
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by Astrid Warren (Norway) | Jul 6, 2011 | Child Care, International, Motherhood, Norway, Parenting, World Moms Blog
The wee lad is approaching one and a half years old, and we have finally been given a space for him in a nearby nursery (childcare).
After going back to work in January (when he was one) we have had what we call a “day mummy”, a lady who comes and looks after him for us in the day time. She has also looked after one other little girl of the same age and at the same time in our flat.
We were hoping to get him into a nursery in January, but we couldn’t find one. So, this was our only option. (more…)
Astrid is a Norwegian thirty something, married, working mum to a wee lad who is almost three and a baby born in 2012! She grew up in Norway, but moved to London, England after she met her husband. After living there during her twenties, she has since returned to Norway and settled down in her nation's capital of Oslo to raise her family.
She finds herself slowly turning into her own mother as her free time is spent reading, walking, knitting and meeting up with other mums for coffee. (Ok, she still secretly loves going to the pub, too!). However, there isn't much time for any of the above, as she now enjoys spending most of her time crawling around on the floor, while playing with her children! Check out her blog, Quintessentially Burrows. She's also on Twitter @MrsSWarren.
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by Robin Farr | Jul 5, 2011 | Canada, Communication, Motherhood, Post Partum Depression, Working Mother
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live in Canada – in Victoria, BC. I’ve lived in Victoria most of my life but was born in Calgary, Alberta, home of the 1988 Winter Olympics and the Calgary Stampede. If you ask me where I’m from, I still say Calgary even though we moved to Victoria when I was 5.
What language(s) do you speak?
English is my first language and I’m fairly fluent in toddlerese. I studied French and German in school, and studied in Germany for a few months as well. (more…)
The name of the Saturday column is now…“Saturday Layover”!
