by Kristen | Nov 16, 2011 | Family Travel, Living Abroad, Switzerland
So far, in this crazy adventure of life abroad there haven’t been too many times that we, as a family, have had to be apart. For the most part we are overseas, but we are overseas together as a family.
A few months ago my grandfather passed away and up came the dilemma of who should make the long trip back to the US for his memorial service. After searching flights that were FAR too expensive and envisioning 2 jet lagged little ones attempting big family events, we decided it would be wisest for me to make the trip alone.
Super dad agreed to take sick leave and have “adventure camp” with the boys while I was away. They were set. But what about me???I absolutely hate being away from my husband and kids.
Give me a girl’s night out or a short weekend away and I am loving the breath of fresh air, but crossing the ocean and times zones makes me a nervous wreck.
In the week leading up to the trip I could tell that our 4 yr old Jackson was becoming more anxious about my leaving, so I tried to get creative about what I would do to help him mark the time and enjoy his time anxiety free. What I came up with wasn’t anything amazing or novel, but it was something that brought (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 Maman Aya (USA) | Nov 15, 2011 | Family, Family Travel, Holiday, Husband, Motherhood, Travel, USA, Working Mother
So here I am, on vacation with my family (down at the Jersey Shore for those of you familiar with the awful TV show with the same name), enjoying, or supposed to be enjoying, the beach.
We were lucky enough to be able to find an apartment for rent, which is right next to the beach. This is so convenient, since we don’t have to worry about eating out every single meal while on vacation (which as you moms know, is not as healthy as preparing the food at home). It’s also convenient for when the little ones are tired, and we can just call it a day and walk up to our apartment.
The problem is, I find that I am spending more time in this apartment than on the beach, usually with one, if not both, of my children. In fact the only “alone time” I have had since we arrived, is a two-block walk to buy some bread for lunch the other day. (more…)
Maman Aya is a full-time working mother of 2 beautiful children, a son who is 6 and a daughter who is two. She is raising her children in the high-pressure city of New York within a bilingual and multi-religious home.
Aya was born in Canada to a French mother who then swiftly whisked her away to NYC, where she grew up and spent most of her life. She was raised following Jewish traditions and married an Irish Catholic American who doesn’t speak any other language (which did not go over too well with her mother), but who is learning French through his children. Aya enjoys her job but feels “mommy guilt” while at work. She is lucky to have the flexibility to work from home on Thursdays and recently decided to change her schedule to have “mommy Fridays”, but still feels torn about her time away from her babies. Maman Aya is not a writer by any stretch of the imagination, but has been drawn in by the mothers who write for World Moms Blog. She looks forward to joining the team and trying her hand at writing!
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by Kristen | Nov 8, 2011 | Family Travel, Motherhood, Parenting, Switzerland, Travel, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview, Writing
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I currently live in Bern, Switzerland. I am originally from the United States. I was born in New York, hopped around to Ohio, Thailand, Malaysia, Michigan and then landed in Texas where I now say I’m “from”. As my family settled down in Texas I married a man, who is on a mission to see the world. Our adventures have taken us to Washington, D.C., Bogotá, Colombia and now on to Bern, Switzerland.
What language(s) do you speak?
I speak English. And also “survival Spanish”…you know the kind with really bad grammar that gets you through the grocery store and across town in a taxi but won’t earn you the respect of linguists! I must admit, though, that while living in Bogota my survival Spanish got us faster service sometimes than my (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 World Moms Blog | Oct 15, 2011 | Cooking, Eva Fannon, Exercise, Family, Family Travel, Gardening, Hobby, Husband, International, Kids, Language, Living Abroad, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parenting, Relocating, Saturday Sidebar, Social Good, The Alchemist, Travel, Working Mother, World Voice
This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Maggie Ellison. She wanted our writers to look ahead and asked them to finish this sentence,
“In five years, I want to …..”
Read on to see how some of our World Moms responded.
Dr. Lanham of Arizona, USA writes:
“In five years I will be impacting lives by being a syndicated columnist managing my family’s careers all while owning and running my teen nonprofit Hodge Podge the Teen Cafe™.” (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 Ecoziva (Brazil) | Oct 10, 2011 | Brazil, Childhood, Family, Family Travel, Kids, Travel
When I was a child I went on a car trip that I spent decades wanting to repeat. At the time, my family lived in a tiny inland town in northeastern Brazil, where its 3,000 or so residents live perched on a beautiful mountain 900 m above sea level.
An older cousin who lived with us was getting married at what was then considered to be the “ripe old age” of 25 and needed her baptism certificate for the traditional Catholic Church ceremony. This needed to be picked up from her native town several hours away. (more…)
Eco, from the greek oikos means home; Ziva has many meanings and roots, including Hebrew (brilliance, light), Slovenian (goddess of life) and Sanskrit (blessing). In Brazil, where EcoZiva has lived for most of her life, giving birth is often termed “giving the light”; thus, she thought, a mother is “home to light” during the nine months of pregnancy, and so the penname EcoZiva came to be for World Moms Blog.
Born in the USA in a multi-ethnic extended family, EcoZiva is married and the mother of two boys (aged 12 and three) and a five-year-old girl and a three yearboy. She is trained as a biologist and presently an university researcher/professor, but also a volunteer at the local environmental movement.
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by Shaula Bellour (Indonesia) | Oct 5, 2011 | Family Travel, Motherhood, Shaula Bellour, Travel
I recently posted about my adventures in traveling with twins around the world. Here are a few additional lessons I’ve learned along the way!
Plan ahead: If you are traveling with an infant, bulkhead seats are the way to go. Most airlines will let you pre-book a baby bassinet, though some will not, so be sure to ask. When flying long haul, night flights are generally easier than day flights. Consider this timing when booking your tickets and be sure to allow plenty of time for check-in and connecting flights.
One friend swears by flying on Wednesdays—rumored to be the cheapest and least busy day to travel. When heading for security, it’s a good idea to devise a game plan before it’s your turn on the conveyor belt and the strollers, shoes, liquids and laptops are flying. (more…)
Shaula Bellour grew up in Redmond, Washington. She now lives in Jakarta, Indonesia with her British husband and 9-year old boy/girl twins. She has degrees in International Relations and Gender and Development and works as a consultant for the UN and non-governmental organizations.
Shaula has lived and worked in the US, France, England, Kenya, Eritrea, Kosovo, Lebanon and Timor-Leste. She began writing for World Moms Network in 2010. She plans to eventually find her way back to the Pacific Northwest one day, but until then she’s enjoying living in the big wide world with her family.
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So far, in this crazy adventure of life abroad there haven’t been too many times that we, as a family, have had to be apart. For the most part we are overseas, but we are overseas together as a family.
