by Maggie Ellison | Apr 30, 2012 | Family, Kids, Motherhood, USA, World Moms Blog, World Motherhood
We all, I think, have our hard times when we think, “that’s it! I’m done! I cannot take it anymore!” Life throws us curve balls that we don’t expect and some are much tougher than others.
As I have written about before, we have moved around a bit in the last 5 years: 4 times to be exact and 3 of which we thought were going to be permanent. No, we are not in the military. My husband just seems to be in the wrong field at the wrong time. He works in research and when the economy is down, there is less money available to support research. His last 2 jobs were lost because of funding cuts. It’s been tough.
When my husband got his last job about 8 months ago, we had to move again, but we were filled with hope. He was going to make a comfortable salary, it was in a place we both liked, and we were close to family. Things were going well for months and although it has taken some time to adjust to living in an entirely new area again, I have felt so content and happy.
Since having my kids, all I have wanted was to be able to stay home with them, have a good school for them to attend and that I could be a part of, live in a nice place and take care of our needs.
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Maggie is so grateful to be raising her 2 children with her husband in the low country of South Carolina. Life at the beach is what she’s always known, although living in SC is new to this NJ native! The beauty of the live oaks and the palmettos takes her breath away on a daily basis and being able to go to the beach all year is a dream for her. Art and music have also always been a part of Maggie’s life, and she is happy that her family has the same love and appreciation for it that she does.
Maggie and her family are also very active. Her husband coaches both kids in soccer, and they like to spend their time outdoors kayaking, biking, swimming, camping, etc. They try to seize every moment they can together, and they feel that it’s not just the family time that is important. They want their kids to know a life of activity and respect for the outdoors, expose them to new things and teach them about the world! Maggie and her family are no strangers to overcoming life's challenges. They've had to uproot their family several times when jobs have been lost in the economic crisis.
They also lovingly face the challenges of having a child diagnosed with special needs. Through all this, Maggie has learned to celebrate the good times and never take them for granted. Her family is everything to her, and she is incredibly grateful for every day she has with them and for every moment she has shared with them. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell them she loves them and how lucky she is to be her kids’ mommy. How sweet!
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by World Moms Blog | Dec 31, 2011 | Humor, Motherhood, Pregnancy, Rox is Brilliant, Saturday Sidebar, Tara B., The Alchemist, Travel, USA, World Motherhood, Writing
This week we asked our World Moms Blog writers,
“If a magic genie appeared and offered to grant you one wish in 2012, what would it be?”
Here’s what some of our World Moms are wishing for…
Maggie Ellison of South Carolina, USA writes:
“As long as we stay healthy, then I would like for my husband to be able to find a stable, secure job where he is happy and provides a decent living, so I can continue to stay home with my children, have the stability we have always wanted and not have to move again. Magic genie, come through for us, please.” (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 Shaula Bellour (Indonesia) | Dec 7, 2011 | East Timor, Family Travel, Indonesia, Living Abroad, Shaula Bellour, Twins
A beautiful island view in Dili, East Timor.
In a few weeks we will be saying goodbye to our life in Dili. Though I have moved many times in my life – across states, oceans, and time zones – the experience is always bittersweet for me. I feel happy, sad, and a little nervous all at the same time.
We originally thought we would stay in Timor-Leste for 2-3 years, but when a great job opportunity for my husband opened up a year early, we decided to go for it.
Admittedly, when I first found out about a possible move my immediate reaction was PANIC. The change felt too soon, too big, too different. Usually, when it’s time to leave a place I feel ready to go. But this time I had mixed emotions. (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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by Kyla P'an (Portugal) | Sep 22, 2011 | Domesticity, Education, Family, Motherhood, Parenting, Relocating
This evening, after 13 whole days of Kindergarten, my daughter came home and, in her drunken-stupor-like exhaustion, asked my husband when we’re moving. This might rattle some parents but in our house it’s a perfectly logical question…we’ve moved a lot.
Our moves might not rival fellow World Moms Blogger, Dee Harlow’s, who moves every two years, but in the five-and-a-half years since our daughter joined this life journey, we’ve moved enough to precipitate such questioning.
Our daughter was born in Washington, DC; two months later, we packed up and hit the road. For three months we stayed in no fewer than nine different places before settling in to graduate housing at my husband’s Massachusetts business school. Our daughter’s first bedroom was her Pack N’ Play; she didn’t get a real crib until she was almost a year old. When she turned two, my husband (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 Dee Harlow (Laos) | Jul 25, 2011 | Family, International, Mexico, Motherhood
In less than 24 hours the packers will be here to pack up all of our belongings. In 13 days we’ll be driving north out of Mexico and into the next chapter of our journey in the intrepid life of an US Foreign Service family.
Throughout the house is a series of piles, some of which are cordoned off with anti-toddler barriers made up of sofas cornered with loveseats, and other piles atop the most unreachable pieces of furniture away from little curious, grabby hands.
But, despite our efforts, our 20-month old twins know that something is afoot, and they team up to undo all the hard work that goes into keeping our hectic life organized and manageable.
They peak under the sofas and squeal in a questioning tone why stuff that is usually in the kitchen is on the floor in the corner over there, and they try to trick us into letting them enter by throwing balls into the ‘no-go zone’, expecting to be allowed in to fetch them…a definite no-no. Because, you see, these various piles are not all going to one place (wishing as I write this that it was that simple). (more…)
One of Dee’s earliest memories was flying on a trans-Pacific flight from her birthplace in Bangkok, Thailand, to the United States when she was six years old. Ever since then, it has always felt natural for her to criss-cross the globe. So after growing up in the northeast of the US, her life, her work and her curiosity have taken her to over 32 countries. And it was in the 30th country while serving in the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan that she met her husband. Together they embarked on a career in international humanitarian aid working in refugee camps in Darfur, Sudan, and the tsunami torn coast of Aceh, Indonesia.
Dee is now a full-time mother of three-year old twins and continues to criss-cross the globe every two years with her husband who is in the US Foreign Service. They currently live in Vientiane, Laos, and are loving it! You can read about their adventures at Wanderlustress.
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We all, I think, have our hard times when we think, “that’s it! I’m done! I cannot take it anymore!” Life throws us curve balls that we don’t expect and some are much tougher than others.
