by Jennifer Burden | Mar 3, 2011 | Being Thankful, Family, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Sleep and Children
I have just experienced that feeling of “thank God there are two of us,” which is automatically followed by a rush of respect for all the single parents out there. I am not talking about being able to go out while your other half can stay home with the kids, or being able to share sick days, or being able to share childcare pickups and drop offs; although just writing this list gives me greater appreciation for my other half who is there to share the joyous, yet sometimes challenging role of parenting.
What I’m talking about are those moments where you just can’t take it anymore. Just writing about my experience makes me feel almost ashamed, but these real life parenting moments do happen – to all of us I’m sure.
It’s beyond any reasoning, when all the love, patience and understanding fly out the window; when all the books and all the best advice seem like insignificant nonsense and when you are beyond common sense, alone in the world, no light at the end of the tunnel.
Let me go back in time and share with you how a perfectly sane, relaxed and happy young mother transforms into a frustrated and completely clueless role model void of all parenting self-esteem…. (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 Karyn Wills | Mar 2, 2011 | Family, Hobby, Humor, International, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, New Zealand, Parenting
I have a perfect pantry. I have matching jars. I have matching baskets. There are shelves on which certain things sit. Together. It is small and perfectly formed. It is organised. It is tidy. It is utterly gorgeous. And it is the only place in our house like it.
You see, we are all project people. We have great ‘start-up’ abilities and not such good ‘follow through.’ We do finish things, but it takes longer than anyone else – because we tend to go off on tangents. We think we can multi-task when all evidence points to the contrary. This creates an interesting home.
Our kitchen, for example, took nine years for my husband to renovate, and the rest of the house is a work in progress. We walk around piles of tools, and bits of wood are stacked next to me as I type. Craig is an archer. Archery equipment does not fit tidily in neat rows. There are a variety of things which fall on my head when I get too close to his archery cupboard. Most of them sharp and pointy. (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 Jennifer Burden | Mar 1, 2011 | Birthing, Family, Health, Infertility, Life Lesson, Motherhood, USA
Delivering my baby by C-section was, for me, something that would be only done in an emergency — if the baby’s heart rate was falling during labor or something else serious that would have threatened my baby or myself.
I delivered my first baby vaginally, and I intended to do the same for this one. My due date is March 21, 2011, and I have already started reading my “Hypnobirthing” book that got me through the beginning of labor with my first. I hadn’t ruled out having an epidural again, but if things happened too fast, I wanted to have some relaxation tricks up my sleeve.
At 35 weeks last week, I was already ½ centimeter dilated! This didn’t alarm me because I walked around for the last two weeks being 3 centimeters dilated with my first child. But, I was excited that things were happening. My body was planning on birthing this baby!
But, things have recently taken a turn in a different direction… (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 Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Feb 28, 2011 | Family, Kids, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Travel, USA
My husband travels on business…A LOT. I don’t assume this is unusual nor that by reading this, you’ll feel sorry for me. It’s just the way the world seems to be going these days: as it grows smaller, so does the quality time we have to spend with family and friends.
I used to see a great deal of my husband. When our daughter was born nearly five years ago, we lived in Washington, DC and we both had family friendly jobs. Most nights, we were home by 6 PM.
By the time our daughter was 10 months old, we had moved to Boston, I had stopped working and was home full-time with her while my husband attended business school.
He kept an erratic but flexible schedule. We would see a lot of him during the day and less when he had evening classes, once our daughter was in bed. (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 Kirsten Doyle (Canada) | Feb 24, 2011 | Bedtime Routines, Canada, Motherhood, Parenting, Sleep and Children
Bedtimes in my household fall into two distinct categories.
There are the “good” bedtimes, where both kids cooperate. They do what they need to in the bathroom, brush their teeth without a fuss, put on their pyjamas, and then lie down together quietly on James’ bed without fighting, waiting for their bedtime cup of milk and their story. They are model children, like little smiling angels.
Then, there are the “challenging” bedtimes (I hesitate to use the word “bad” because that sends negative karma into the universe). (more…)
Kirsten Doyle was born in South Africa. After completing university, she drifted for a while and finally washed up in Canada in 2000. She is Mom to two boys who have reached the stage of eating everything in sight (but still remaining skinny).
Kirsten was a computer programmer for a while before migrating into I.T. project management. Eventually she tossed in the corporate life entirely in order to be a self-employed writer and editor. She is now living her best life writing about mental health and addictions, and posting videos to two YouTube channels.
When Kirsten is not wrestling with her kids or writing up a storm, she can be seen on Toronto's streets putting many miles onto her running shoes. Every year, she runs a half-marathon to benefit children with autism, inspired by her older son who lives life on the autism spectrum.
Final piece of information: Kirsten is lucky enough to be married to the funniest guy in the world.
Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Be sure to check out her YouTube channels at My Gen X Life and Word Salad With Coffee!
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by Kally Mocho (USA) | Feb 23, 2011 | Communication, Family, Life Lesson, Motherhood
When I was in graduate school for social work, I had to examine the role that boundaries played in my life. Social workers often work with people in vulnerable circumstances. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain clear boundaries to uphold professional integrity.
Problematic boundaries can be either too rigid or too loose. People with rigid boundaries do not allow others to get close to them and are often guarded. People with loose boundaries can be too open with others. They do not want to upset or disappoint anyone. It is important to be somewhere in between the two.
In examining my own boundaries, I discovered that they are a little on the loose side. I have a hard time saying no to people. I also avoid conflict. I wondered how having loose boundaries would affect me as a parent. Would I be able to appropriately protect my child when I struggle standing up for myself? I feared that I would let my kids down. Then it actually happened.
My family went to Ikea to buy a bookshelf for my five-year-old daughter’s bedroom. My daughter LOVES Ikea because they have a playroom with a huge ball pit. She begs me to leave her there while I shop. Although I always have reservations about it, I say yes, let her play, and I shop as quickly as I can. (more…)
I have just experienced that feeling of “thank God there are two of us,” which is automatically followed by a rush of respect for all the single parents out there. I am not talking about being able to go out while your other half can stay home with the kids, or being able to share sick days, or being able to share childcare pickups and drop offs; although just writing this list gives me greater appreciation for my other half who is there to share the joyous, yet sometimes challenging role of parenting.
