NEW YORK, USA: Gotta Write That Will, Mom

NEW YORK, USA: Gotta Write That Will, Mom

If something happened to you, have you ensured the future of your children?

If something happened to you, have you ensured the future of your children?

Recently, I heard the story of a single mother who lost her battle with cancer.  One of her three children went to my son’s school, and coincidentally my step-sister was friends with her and her son babysat the children for the past few years.   The children are 5 and 7 and went from being very well taken care of, from a financially stable, loving home to being all alone in this world.  This is a very sad story, and although the children are currently being cared for, their ultimate fate lies in the hands of the courts and strangers, since she did not have a proper will in place.

Last week, a colleague and friend who was scheduled for surgery had a brain aneurism, and is now in a coma. She is a mother of 2 teenagers, a high school senior and a college freshman.  She was always on the go, working hard, going to the gym, cooking huge holiday meals. Now she lies in bed, her fate lies in the hands of her medical team and G-d. (more…)

Maman Aya (USA)

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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Saturday Sidebar: What is your favorite Sweet Potato dish?

This week, in Saturday Sidebar, our World Moms share their favorite sweet potato recipes for a cause.

World Moms Blog is proudly working with ONE Moms as a community partner.

ONE is a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school and improving futures. Cofounded by Bono and other campaigners, ONE is nonpartisan and works closely with African activists and policy makers.

Backed by over 3 million ONE members, ONE achieves change through advocacy.

To read more about ONE, click here.

And, follow ONE Moms on Facebook.

Also, you can follow their trip this week to Ethiopia with the hashtag #ONEMoms on twitter. More to come this week on that trip!

So, now what does Sweet Potatoes have to do with ONE Moms and World Moms Blog?

Malnutrition claims the lives of well over three million children a year. Sweet potatoes have the power to provide much-needed nutrients like vitamins C, A and B6 to undernourished children, helping to avert stunting and ensuring proper growth. On top of that, sweet potatoes are relatively cheap to produce and easy to grow in uncertain conditions, perfect for regions prone to drought and famine. ONE members signed the petition urging world leaders to reduce chronic child malnutrition for 25 million children by 2016.

This Saturday, the World Moms chimed in with how they do it at their home. Check out some of the recipes from around the world.

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World Moms Blog

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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Travel Itinerary for the Week of June 24th!

On Monday meet us in the Middle East, where we’ll go to Tel-Aviv, Israel to talk about different thoughts on, as Susie calls it,  “bad mothering.”  Susie felt conflicted about going on a brief vacation and seeing her grown son in the hospital for an ear infection. Are there times when you felt like a bad mother, but knew that you had to choose to do something for yourself?

On Tuesday, we’re off to Asia, where we meet up with Ms. V, our resident yogi, in South Korea. Her post is titled, “Raising the F Word”, and in it she’s hot on the topic of feminism and teaching it to our daughters and sons.  And why being a feminist is so important to her.  This is one for the Human Rights column!

On Wednesday, meet us in Capetown, South Africa! Mamma Simona discusses the stereotypes surrounding a “Mama’s Boy” and a “Daddy’s Girl”. Her children have broke the molds! Would you say that your child connects more with you, or your partner?

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World Moms Blog

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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Travel Itinerary for the Week of April 9th!

Put on your seatbelts, because we’re off to Israel on Monday! Susie Newday talks about that thing that we sometimes love, sometimes hate, and always worry about in terms of its effect on our kids – the TV.

A message of unity and seeing things beyond how you see them and…breathing. Intrigued? We’ve really got something special for you on Tuesday in our Social Good column!  Jenny Flynn of Colorado, USA, a woman who offers opportunities for healing through creative expression and embodied practice is guest posting for World Moms Blog!

On Tuesday evening, we have another great guest post — this time in our Human Rights column! Lauren, mother of 2 boys, in the U.S. shares her story of international adoption and her motivation to help children in orphanages in Vietnam. This mother who also writes about the great outdoors and autism is amazingly inspirational. (more…)

World Moms Blog

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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Saturday Layover for August 27th, 2011…

I want to use this space this week to tell everyone that we NEED YOUR VOTE!  Help World Moms Blog win $5,000 for charity!!

Wouldn’t it be great if we could donate to the very causes that affect mothers and children around the world that we write about?

Help us win! Here’s what you do…click on the link below (it won’t cost you anything and you don’t have to sign up for anything). You just have to click on “Like” in the grey box next to my picture.

Please vote for us!

http://mom.babble.com/mom/mominations/mominees/inspirational/jennifer-burden

You see, I have been “mominated” at Babble.com for this charitable award on behalf of my work at World Moms Blog, so help me win this for the World Moms!

And, thank you to Alison Lee in Malaysia for the nomination.  Help us spread the word! (We would love that. 🙂 )

I’m keeping this column short this week for two reasons.  One is the impending hurricane coming up the Atlantic ocean.  I’ve been preparing for hurricane Irene, here, in New Jersey, USA, by stocking up on necessities and securing everything outside my house with my husband.  I hope everyone affected by this storm will be safe!

And two, is that after all of our hard lifting and packing up today, my husband and I went to the Maroon 5/Train concert. (This mama has to rock sometimes!)

So, tune in tomorrow for the Travel Itinerary to see where we’re taking  you this week!

And, THANK YOU for voting!!  It is very much appreciated!

Our week in review:

On Monday we started off the week with The Third Eye Mom, Nicole Melancon, who shared her internal struggle with seeing her son off to the first grade.  Many of us could relate!

We were in tears on Tuesday with Jennifer D’Ambrosio who told us about how she lost her mother to cancer and how she regretted not having children sooner to meet her mom.  Just the picture alone will have you feeling Jen’s emotions.  What a moving story!

Wednesday, Susie Newday in Israel told us what it was like to carry a baby and know it would be a soldier if it was a boy.  (She secretly admitted that at the time, she was hoping for a girl!) But, now she tell us about coming to terms with having a son in the Army and another son who will go in after him.  It was interesting to see life through her eyes!

Dr. Jeanelle Lanham has made that trip that she told us all about — you know, the one where she came to New York City for her son to attend his dream acting school?  She told us about her fears, and how she is overcoming them to make this happen!

In writer interviews we heard from Tara B. of Washington, USA and new writer, Maman Aya, of New York, USA!

And when is the right time to stop undressing in front of your children? Or, should you stop? World Moms chimed in on this private topic in this week’s Friday Question!

Take care everyone, and don’t forget to vote!

Jennifer Burden

Founder/Editor

World Moms Blog 

Photo credit to Alan Cleaver. This photo has a creative commons attribution license. 

Jennifer Burden

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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