by Tara Bergman (USA) | Jul 5, 2011 | Childhood, Family, International, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, USA, World Moms Blog
This morning felt like it came directly from a typical family sitcom. It was a school morning, which meant I needed to have both my sons, ages 5 1/2 years and 14 months, up, fed, dressed, and out the door in time for the 40 minute drive to my older son’s preschool. (We recently moved, but are letting him finish out the school year).
We were in good shape. Come 1 hour before departure time, both boys (as well as myself) were fed. My husband was helping to get my toddler dressed.
My 5 year old called me to help him clean up after his morning constitutional, and I left him standing at the bathroom sink ready to complete his morning chores, which include brushing his teeth, getting dressed, making his bed, and shutting off his bedroom lights.
He is perfectly capable of independently completing these tasks and has done so many mornings. Some mornings, however, require much prompting.
Let’s back up to where I left him: standing at the sink ready to brush his teeth. (more…)
Tara is a native Pennsylvanian who moved to the Seattle area in 1998 (sight unseen) with her husband to start their grand life adventure together. Despite the difficult fact that their family is a plane ride away, the couple fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and have put down roots. They have 2 super charged little boys and recently moved out of the Seattle suburbs further east into the country, trading in a Starbucks on every corner for coyotes in the backyard. Tara loves the outdoors (hiking, biking, camping). And, when her family isn't out in nature, they are hunkered down at home with friends, sharing a meal, playing games, and generally having fun. She loves being a stay-at-home mom and sharing her experiences on World Moms Network!
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by Jennifer Burden | Jul 4, 2011 | Childhood, Culture, Eye on Culture, Family, Holiday, Motherhood, Parenting, USA, World Moms Blog
Growing up, my best memories of July 4th, the U.S. Independence Day, were picking out my clothes in shades of red, white and blue, helping my mom put our U.S. flag outside our house and getting to run around with fire sparklers around our backyard at night.
Sparklers were for the younger kids (say 8 years old and up), while the big kids were helping the adults set off fireworks on our side yard. You’re not allowed to light off your own fireworks now in NJ for safety reasons, come to think about it, I’m pretty sure that you weren’t allowed to back then either.
I can still smell the savory scents of the day: hotdogs, sauerkraut, hamburgers, sausage, peppers and onions coming from the grill, and the aroma of mom’s potato salad, barbecue chicken and corn on the cob coming from the kitchen. We barbecued all day in our backyard, and my parents would have their friends over. And, everyone brought their kids, so the kids were always off playing on their own.
My mom would also make a U.S. flag cake, decorated with blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream, and my dad would stand over the grill until everyone had their fill. I can still hear him calling me his “bicentennial baby” because I was born in the year of my nation’s bicentennial, 1976. (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 Jennifer Burden | Jul 2, 2011 | International, Motherhood, Multicultural, World Moms Blog Review
When I first started World Moms Blog, I don’t think I could have possibly comprehended what it was going to be like. Each week we read different experiences in the form of blog posts from around the world on so many different topics. The mothers who write for the blog are challenging me to think and leading me to places and topics that I haven’t thought about before.
This week, I felt Carol’s sadness of raising a child miles and miles away from her family, Margie’s pain at the loss of her newborn baby, Kally’s laughs about TV moms through the ages, and I got distracted by Polish Mom Photographer’s delicious looking chocolate cake. I also got to read about many of the World Moms’ pregnancy cravings in the Friday Question.
I care about this blog so much. I want to learn and grow with our writers and the community that has developed around our posts. My motherhood experience has definitely been enhanced by World Moms Blog in ways and emotions that I could have never imagined.
As an editor, my biggest challenge is, well….editing. If a writer writes about her life experience, my personal reaction is that we read it as just that. It may offend, it may not, but we have the unique opportunity to look through a lens and see how other people live as though we are in their in-group. When do we ever get the chance to do that? (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 1, 2011 | Cooking, Eva Fannon, Food, Friday Question, Husband, Kids, Motherhood, Polish Mom Photographer, Pregnancy, Salma, Tara B., Third Eye Mom
This week’s Friday Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Tara B. She asked our writers,
“What were your biggest aversions and/or cravings during pregnancy?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
MamaRobinJ of British Columbia, Canada writes:
“I ate a lot of pickles. And ice cream. But not together, because I’m not THAT cliché 🙂 But seriously, we bought big pickle jars every week!
Major aversion for me was salad – anything with greens turned me off completely.
Weird craving was for a McChicken. I don’t eat at McDonald’s and hadn’t for years and years. But I wanted one so badly. I didn’t give in, but that combo of craving and aversion made no sense. Isn’t your body supposed to want good things? Someone suggested it might be salt that made me crave that, but I think the pickles were taking care of that 🙂 In any case, my son (3) has never had McDonald’s and he will actually eat salad, so go figure.” (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 Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Jun 30, 2011 | Education, Family, International, Japan, Kids, Language, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, Preschool, Technology, USA, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. If you are familiar at all with the Boston Marathon, we’re half way in, half way out (13.1 mi from the start or finish line).
No, I’m not from here. I grew up outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an area known as the “Main Line.” But also in New England, where I spent my summers and attended boarding school from an early age. My husband and I met in Boston, moved to Washington, DC for a few years and then returned here for business school and to raise our kids.
What language(s) do you speak?
I speak English and Japanese. My husband and kids speak English and Mandarin Chinese. If I want to keep up, I better start learning Chinese soon or my two-year-old is going to start plotting cookie jar raids with his sister and I’ll never know! (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 Kally Mocho (USA) | Jun 29, 2011 | Communication, Culture, Family, Humor, International, Motherhood, Parenting, USA, World Moms Blog
On a typical Wednesday night, I’m getting home from work at around 8:30 pm, having a glass of wine, and watching the sitcom, Modern Family, with my husband. By the time I get home, both kids are already asleep, and I’m exhausted after a long day.
This aforementioned day includes taking my daughter to and from a three-hour stint at preschool, while making sure my two-year-old son doesn’t cause grave injury to himself (or me for that matter). Then, at 3:00 pm, the babysitter comes over, and I’m off to work until 8:00 pm.
I know that a lot of other women juggle much more than I do, but keeping two children clean, clothed and fed, while chipping away at the household chores, is more than I can handle sometimes. That’s why it’s so refreshing to watch a show like Modern Family, where it’s okay to be a mom with imperfections. (more…)
This morning felt like it came directly from a typical family sitcom. It was a school morning, which meant I needed to have both my sons, ages 5 1/2 years and 14 months, up, fed, dressed, and out the door in time for the 40 minute drive to my older son’s preschool. (We recently moved, but are letting him finish out the school year).
