WASHINGTON, USA: Dancing to the Beat of a Native Drum

A few days ago my four-year old daughter informed me that one of her pre-school teachers is Native American.  I asked her how she knew about this, to which she responded that her teacher told the class.  Her teachers use a developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) framework (see more on this at http://www.naeyc.org/dap/faq) for teaching.

The topic of everyone being different and coming from different cultural backgrounds emerged after the class read The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane DeRolf.  Each family was asked to work on a family tree with their child and brought it in to share with their classmates.

(Check out the Global Grover Initiative for ideas on this – there are facilitator and caregiver guides).

My daughter kept bringing up the topic of Native Americans.  She told me, “Pocahontas is Native American you know.”  I started to think of what I could do to help her learn more about Native Americans… (more…)

Eva Fannon (USA)

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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INDIA: In the Eyeglassess of the Beholder

There was a time in my parenting life when I thought everything was perfect: my dear darling son (henceforth DDS) was perfect; I was perfect; our whole life was a living proof of joie de vivre. And then, disaster struck.

Well, I should not say that really. It was during the holidays and DDS was diagnosed with astigmatism. We got him his eye glasses on Dec 24th and from the day of his diagnosis until now has been a very difficult time in my life as a mother.

When faced with the fact that he will be wearing glasses permanently, I initially was crushed, devastated; I felt lost, confused and upset. I felt guilty with myself and angry at the whole world. (more…)

Purnima Ramakrishnan

Purnima Ramakrishnan is an UNCA award winning journalist and the recipient of the fellowship in Journalism by International Reporting Project, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Her International reports from Brazil are found here . She is also the recipient of the BlogHer '13 International Activist Scholarship Award . She is a Senior Editor at World Moms Blog who writes passionately about social and other causes in India. Her parental journey is documented both here at World Moms Blog and also at her personal Blog, The Alchemist's Blog. She can be reached through this page . She also contributes to Huffington Post . Purnima was once a tech-savvy gal who lived in the corporate world of sleek vehicles and their electronics. She has a Master's degree in Electronics Engineering, but after working for 6 years as a Design Engineer, she decided to quit it all to become a Stay-At-Home-Mom to be with her son!   This smart mom was born and raised in India, and she has moved to live in coastal India with her husband, who is a physician, and her son who is in primary grade school.   She is a practitioner and trainer of Heartfulness Meditation.

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NORWAY: Finding Child Care

My little lad is almost one year old, my maternity leave is over, and the paternity leave will be over in a month. So, after lots of “to-ing and fro-ing”, we decided to apply for a nursery.

Although many parents decide to stay at home, it is also quite common here for both parents to go back to work when the child is one. However, this article is not meant to start a discussion as to whether or not a one year old is ready to go to nursery, as that would be a whole separate article in its own right.

In Norway the government has introduced a policy called “Full  Nursery/Kindergarten Coverage” – meaning that all children who wish should get a space in nursery (at a reasonable price) from the time they are one year old.

One of the reasons for this is so that parents would not have to take on child minders they don’t necessarily know and find other temporary solutions to child minding.

This sounds great doesn’t it? (more…)

Astrid Warren (Norway)

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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NORWAY: Finding Child Care

My little lad is almost one year old, my maternity leave is over, and the paternity leave will be over in a month. So, after lots of “to-ing and fro-ing”, we decided to apply for a nursery.

Although many parents decide to stay at home, it is also quite common here for both parents to go back to work when the child is one. However, this article is not meant to start a discussion as to whether or not a one year old is ready to go to nursery, as that would be a whole separate article in its own right.

In Norway the government has introduced a policy called “Full  Nursery/Kindergarten Coverage” – meaning that all children who wish should get a space in nursery (at a reasonable price) from the time they are one year old.

One of the reasons for this is so that parents would not have to take on child minders they don’t necessarily know and find other temporary solutions to child minding.

This sounds great doesn’t it? (more…)

Astrid Warren (Norway)

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.

More Posts

NORWAY: Finding Child Care

My little lad is almost one year old, my maternity leave is over, and the paternity leave will be over in a month. So, after lots of “to-ing and fro-ing”, we decided to apply for a nursery.

Although many parents decide to stay at home, it is also quite common here for both parents to go back to work when the child is one. However, this article is not meant to start a discussion as to whether or not a one year old is ready to go to nursery, as that would be a whole separate article in its own right.

In Norway the government has introduced a policy called “Full  Nursery/Kindergarten Coverage” – meaning that all children who wish should get a space in nursery (at a reasonable price) from the time they are one year old.

One of the reasons for this is so that parents would not have to take on child minders they don’t necessarily know and find other temporary solutions to child minding.

This sounds great doesn’t it? (more…)

Astrid Warren (Norway)

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.

More Posts

NORWAY: Finding Child Care

My little lad is almost one year old, my maternity leave is over, and the paternity leave will be over in a month. So, after lots of “to-ing and fro-ing”, we decided to apply for a nursery.

Although many parents decide to stay at home, it is also quite common here for both parents to go back to work when the child is one. However, this article is not meant to start a discussion as to whether or not a one year old is ready to go to nursery, as that would be a whole separate article in its own right.

In Norway the government has introduced a policy called “Full  Nursery/Kindergarten Coverage” – meaning that all children who wish should get a space in nursery (at a reasonable price) from the time they are one year old.

One of the reasons for this is so that parents would not have to take on child minders they don’t necessarily know and find other temporary solutions to child minding.

This sounds great doesn’t it? (more…)

Astrid Warren (Norway)

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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