MALAYSIA: A Letter To All Girls

Kahlil Gibran beauty quoteDear Girls,

I’m writing to you as a 36-year old woman who has battled with demons of insecurity for most of my young life.

As a young girl, I have told myself, I’m not smart enough. I’m not beautiful enough. I’m not tall enough. I’m not sweet and gentle, and soft-spoken enough.

You would have told yourself some similar things too.

You would have compared yourself to the images you see on television, in magazines, on the Internet.

The images of ‘beauty’ as projected by the media.

The tall, leggy, flawless-complexioned goddesses with perfect hair, teeth, breasts and lives. (more…)

Alison

Alison is a former PR professional turned stay-at-home mother to two boys. Growing up in a small city of Ipoh, Malaysia, Alison left home at 17 to pursue her studies in the big city of Kuala Lumpur. At 19, she headed to University of Leeds in England and graduated with a degree in Communications. Returning home to Malaysia in 1999, she began a 10-year career in public relations, event planning, and marketing, working for various PR agencies and one of the world's biggest sports brands. After a decade of launch parties and product launches, concerts and award shows, international press junkets and world travel, Alison traded all that in for a life as a first time mother in 2009, and has not looked back since. Aside from writing for her blog, Writing, Wishing, Alison is the Founder and chief social media strategist for Little Love Media.

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CANADA: Interview with Angela at halfpastnormal

CANADA: Interview with Angela at halfpastnormal

Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?

I live in Toronto, Ontario in Canada.  I love living here because it is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world.  There are countless shops and restaurants that reflect the many different people who live here.  I can find food from Ethiopia, Korea, and Peru by just walking down the street or hopping on a streetcar.  It is like traveling the globe without leaving your hometown.

 

What language(s) do you speak?

Embarrassingly, I only speak English.  I’ve always wanted to learn new languages and have a smattering of French.  I can ask for the washroom and count to ten, and that’s about it.

 

When did you first become a mother?

I first became a mother at the age of 32.  My oldest son (now five years old) was born and my world changed completely.  He was a jaundiced, colicky baby and I was head over heels in love with him.

I now have a three year old daughter and a one year old baby boy as well.  Our home is very busy, but it’s wonderful to have the children playing together.  Although it is challenging to have young children so close in age, I love (almost) every minute of it.

I was unprepared for how intense motherhood is, and I have made many changes in my life to spend more time with my children.  Before children I was very career focused, and it took a couple years of trying to juggle my children’s and work schedules for me to realize it is not working for me. I now choose positions that compliment my family life. (more…)

specialneedmom2

Angela is a Special Education teacher who blogs about her super-powered special needs family. She has a 3 year old with Prader-Willi Syndrome and a 5 year old with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Sensory Processing Disorder. The odds of these random genetic events occurring at the same time are astronomical. "When you add our typically developing one year old baby boy to the mix, you have a very busy household!", she explains. Angela admits to having too many appointments, too many school problems, and being generally too busy as she tries to live life to the fullest. Please visit her family at Half Past Normal for more of their adventures! If you want to connect to chat, you can find her on Twitter @specialneedmom2 If you are interested in Special Education policies and procedures in Ontario – or just some excellent strategies and accommodations – please check out Angela's other site at Special Ed on the Bell Curve.

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PHILIPPINES: A Time to Help – The Aftermath of Typhoon Bopha (Pablo)

PHILIPPINES: A Time to Help – The Aftermath of Typhoon Bopha (Pablo)

Typhoon Haiyan

Recently, I wrote an article for Philstar.com, a local news website here in the Philippines, entitled, “We Are All Connected.” It was about the typhoon in the Philippines, dubbed internationally as “Bopha,” but known locally as “Pablo.” Allow me to share a few lines from that article here:

“Dear readers, the reality is this: We are all connected. Whether we like it or not. Whether we believe it or not. Whether we have the same beliefs or not. Whether we are Muslim, Catholic, Christian, Hindu, Buddhists, atheists — we are all connected somehow. At least, that’s what I believe.

As Filipinos, we have witnessed our country and our countrymen rise from different calamities and disasters — both natural and man-made. We know that ‘the Filipino spirit is waterproof. We know that, after this typhoon, there may still be more to come (though let us pray that there aren’t any more) — yet we will still stand strong.”

Well, as of Sunday, December 9, the typhoon was still making its presence felt in our country, although as of Sunday afternoon, it had already been “downgraded” from a tropical depression to a low pressure area. Bopha was actually supposed to have left the Philippine area of responsibility by then, but it veered back in, the evening of December 8.

As I write this post, the latest news reports state (more…)

Tina Santiago-Rodriguez (Philippines)

Tina Santiago-Rodriguez is a wife and homeschool mom by vocation, a licensed physical therapist by education and currently the managing editor of Mustard, a Catholic children's magazine published by Shepherd's Voice Publications in the Philippines, by profession. She has been writing passionately since her primary school years in Brunei, and contributes regularly to several Philippine and foreign-based online and print publications. She also does sideline editing and scriptwriting jobs, when she has the time. Find out more about Tina through her personal blogs: Truly Rich Mom and Teacher Mama Tina.

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Saturday Sidebar: What is the age difference between siblings in your family?

Saturday Sidebar: What is the age difference between siblings in your family?

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from World Moms Blog writer Karyn Van Der Zwet.  She asked our writers,

“What is your theory on spacing births within a family, and what age gaps did you end up with?”

Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…

Dee_Harlow with her twins.

Dee_Harlow with her twins.

Dee Harlow of Laos writes:
“When parents of a single child see me with twins, they always ask what it’s like to have two? We always tell them to make sure that by the time the second child comes, the first one is old enough to pick the baby up. Believe me – you need the extra pair of hands and eyes.”

Documama of USA writes:

“When we weren’t trying, I got pregnant, and when we were trying to, I didn’t, yet we ended up with four kids spaced almost evenly 2 years apart! It looks like it was a plan, but we learnt pretty quickly that we only had so much control of how things worked out. I have to say the two year gap seems to work well, they are close enough to play together but when the baby is born the toddler was also young enough to forget quickly that they had just been usurped. A bit chaotic when you have a mess of babies on your hands, but I did feel like my 30s would be my child bearing decade, and then in my 40s I could get back to me a bit. Getting there!”

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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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INDIA: Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s teacher…and to ME!

INDIA: Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s teacher…and to ME!

Dressed up as a 'rockstar' in one of the preliminary rounds of the Fancy Dress Competition.

Purnima’s son dressed up as a ‘Rockstar’ for the Fancy Dress Competition.

Here in India there are a lot of competitions conducted for children in a healthy way.  Our son recently took part in a competition in early November.  You see, it is Children’s Day on the 14th of November and the kids who win are awarded on that day.

It was a fancy dress competition.  He was all dressed up.  He had reached the final round after clearing two intermediate rounds. He dressed up as a ‘Rockstar’ for the first round and then as ‘The Earth’ for the second round. For the finals, the topic was a bit tricky. We had to dress up depicting any opposite. So I was thinking of good and evil and hot and cold and such things. But he came with Indoor and Outdoor games. Maybe they are not really opposites, so I got a confirmation from the teacher-in-charge and then dressed him up to depict Indoor and Outdoor games.

And just when we were waiting for his chance to get on stage and perform, there was a mother, whose child’s only competition was my son.  She came up to us, and tried to discourage my son and demotivate him.  I tried to shield him away from her and her stinging words.  She joked about it so that I wouldn’t take offense and complain…but tried to do the damage nevertheless.

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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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