by Mannahattamamma (UAE) | Nov 29, 2011 | Living Abroad, Motherhood, Technology, UAE, Working Mother, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview, World Motherhood, Writing
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the UAE, but whenever anyone hears me say “Abu Dhabi,” the association is immediately Dubai, the “big city” to the north of us. (Yes, Abu Dhabi is where the second “Sex in the City” movie was supposedly set…but it was filmed in Morocco!)
No, I’m not from here. I grew up in Illinois, went to college in Boston and lived there for a few years, and moved to Manhattan in 1988 to get my doctorate. I intended to live in New York only until I finished my degree…but I never left! So I think now I’m officially a “New Yorker” who moved to Abu Dhabi in 2011. My husband and I teach at New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus, which is a four-year college that just started last fall (2010), so it’s a brand-new project and very exciting.
What language(s) do you speak?
I speak English. And faux-French (which is to say French with such a bad accent and such poor grammar that my French brother-in-law almost winces every time I open my mouth). My kids are learning Arabic (more…)
After twenty-plus years in Manhattan, Deborah Quinn and her family moved to Abu Dhabi (in the United Arab Emirates), where she spends a great deal of time driving her sons back and forth to soccer practice. She writes about travel, politics, feminism, education, and the absurdities of living in a place where temperatures regularly go above 110F.
Deborah can also be found on her blog, Mannahattamamma.
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by Ms. V. (South Korea) | Nov 28, 2011 | Motherhood, Sleep and Children, South Korea, World Motherhood
I am, by nature, a champion sleeper. And when I say champion, I really mean it.
If given the opportunity, I can enjoy some epic, luxurious, long sleep. Or at least I could. I stopped sleeping approximately at the beginning of my second trimester of pregnancy, and I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since.
While I was pregnant, I just couldn’t get comfortable at night. Lying on one side just wasn’t for me, and besides, the babe would start his nightly high-kicks routine as soon as I settled into bed. By my final weeks of pregnancy, I was sleeping about 2 solid hours a night, with 5-6 hours of tossing and turning.
And moms, if you can believe this, I kept telling myself: “I’ll get some sleep once the baby comes. Sure, it will be interrupted, but it will at least be real sleep”. Oh how foolish the first-time mom can be. In hindsight, I can remember the few mothers of small children I said this to who simply smiled and nodded in response. I mistook their kind desire to not burst my bubble as reassurance that my delusions were true.
We are now 5 ½ months into my son’s life on the outside, and while I, of course, cannot imagine my life without him, nor would I ever want to, I am still struggling to make peace with the whole sleep deprivation thing. I mean, what becomes of a champion who cannot hone their skills?
As I was discussing this with my husband, I realized that the emotions I’ve been experiencing about sleep and lack of sleep are quite similar to the emotions associated with grief, and so I present to you: The Five Stages of Sleep Deprivation. (more…)
Ms. V returned from a 3-year stint in Seoul, South Korea and is now living in the US in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her partner, their two kids, three ferocious felines, and a dog named Avon Barksdale. She grew up all over the US, mostly along the east coast, but lived in New York City longer than anywhere else, so considers NYC “home.” Her love of travel has taken her all over the world and to all but four of the 50 states.
Ms. V is contemplative and sacred activist, exploring the intersection of yoga, new monasticism, feminism and social change. She is the co-director and co-founder of Samdhana-Karana Yoga: A Healing Arts Center, a non-profit yoga studio and the spiritual director for Hab Community. While not marveling at her beautiful children, she enjoys reading, cooking, and has dreams of one day sleeping again.
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by World Moms Blog | Nov 26, 2011 | Canada, Motherhood, Parent Care, Parenting, Ruth Wong, Saturday Sidebar, Singapore, South Africa, The Alchemist, Third Eye Mom, USA, WMB Saturday Layover, World Moms Blog, World Motherhood
This week’s Saturday Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Maggie Ellison. She asked our writers,
“What has been the best part of parenting so far?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
Dr. Lanham of Arizona, USA writes:
“The best part of parenting for me has been to hear my boys tell me they appreciate HOW I’ve raised them. Let’s me know they were listening! 🙂 ”
Maggie Ellison of South Carolina, USA writes: (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) | Nov 23, 2011 | Family, Life Lesson, Motherhood, Parenting, Saudi Arabia, World Motherhood
My eldest sister got married very young (18) and started having her children very young, as well. As a result, she has children ranging in age from 24 to 10.
I loved watching her children interact. My sister and her husband worked hard to raise these children to be educated, respectful, hardworking and just all around decent human beings. Their family vacations are truly family vacations where they go to some remote place to explore it together.
They spend weekends at their farm, just themselves, doing things like repainting the farm-house or helping build or design the stables. They depend on each other and are what a proper family should be.
This is not saying that they don’t fight. (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 Ms. V. (South Korea) | Nov 22, 2011 | Motherhood, Parenting, Relocating, South Korea, Technology, World Interviews, World Moms Blog Writer Interview, World Motherhood, Writing
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live in Seoul, South Korea currently, but I am from The States. My husband and I moved here for his job in May of 2011.
What language(s) do you speak?
English is my native tongue. I am also fluent in Spanish, and I am learning Korean. So far I have a grip on the basics: hello, goodbye, please, thank you, I’m sorry, excuse me, and (most importantly since it pertains to food) vegetarian. They say that Korean is the easiest of the Asian languages to learn due to its simple alphabet, Hangul. I have learned to read Hangul, which sounds more impressive than it is because I have no idea what any of it means. And, just to make things really interesting, Korean/Hangul sentences are written in syllables not words, so trying to figure out where one word ends and another begins feels impossible. It’s all very humbling.
When did you first become a mother?
I became a mother to our beautiful son in June 2011
Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work?
I currently do not work outside of the home though that is set to change within the next few months. I am a Yoga teacher, (more…)
Ms. V returned from a 3-year stint in Seoul, South Korea and is now living in the US in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her partner, their two kids, three ferocious felines, and a dog named Avon Barksdale. She grew up all over the US, mostly along the east coast, but lived in New York City longer than anywhere else, so considers NYC “home.” Her love of travel has taken her all over the world and to all but four of the 50 states.
Ms. V is contemplative and sacred activist, exploring the intersection of yoga, new monasticism, feminism and social change. She is the co-director and co-founder of Samdhana-Karana Yoga: A Healing Arts Center, a non-profit yoga studio and the spiritual director for Hab Community. While not marveling at her beautiful children, she enjoys reading, cooking, and has dreams of one day sleeping again.
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by World Moms Blog | Nov 19, 2011 | Babies, Communication, Culture, Education, Eva Fannon, Eye on Culture, Family, Husband, Indonesia, International, Kids, Motherhood, Multicultural, Parent Care, Parenting, Saturday Sidebar, Saudi Arabia, Scoops of Joy, South Korea, Third Eye Mom, USA, World Moms Blog, World Motherhood
This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer, Diana @Hormonal Imbalances. She asked our writers,
“Are there any differences in your culture on how boys and girls are raised? For example, is there a change in discipline when dealing with one gender versus the other? Education? Expectations in behavior? Changes in rules as they grow up? Do you agree or disagree with your culture’s parenting methods?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
Mama B. of Saudi Arabia writes:
“Where to start? I am going to generalize now so… in general, in our culture there is a big difference between what is expected of boys and what is expected of girls. As far as discipline goes, girls get the iron fist, while boys get a slap on the hand. (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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