LAOS: Traveling As a Mom

LAOS: Traveling As a Mom

IMG_6076-001After flying our twin toddlers half way around the world four months ago, and taking three trips within a month recently, I was certain that I would have some ingenious insights to share on traveling with children. I thought that in addition to the universe of tips out there…from how many diapers to pack, kinds of toys to bring, useful apps to download, to reminders about extra clothes for yourself, and the triumvirate panacea of patience, sense of humor and a thick skin… that I would have new pearls of wisdom to add. Yet I do not because there is a lot of good advice out there that really covers it all.

The insight that is new to me about traveling with children has more to do with traveling as a mom – the mom herself as a traveler, the pre-kids adventurous, curious individual, and how she must now navigate the pursuit of travel, mentally and logistically, with young children in tow.

The need to know:

I have always loved to travel. For business or pleasure, I had no fear of the unknown. Language barriers did not intimidate me from taking a four-month work assignment in Tokyo. Checking community ride boards each day to determine my next destination while traveling in Africa did not make me anxious. There was never a second thought to exploring on foot the crowded streets of Istanbul or Hong Kong or Barcelona for the entire day. (more…)

Dee Harlow (Laos)

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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INDONESIA: It’s Party Time

INDONESIA: It’s Party Time

Our twins turn 5 years old today. It feels like a big milestone – one step closer to being full-fledged big kids, yet still with a foot in the little kid world.

I often find myself marveling at their suddenly long legs, new vocabulary and thoughtful commentary on the world around them. It’s bittersweet of course, but mostly it’s a delight to watch them grow more and more into themselves every day. It’s definitely something worth celebrating.

This year our kids were a lot more aware of the whole birthday thing and have been getting excited for their big day. We’ve already been to three whole-class birthday parties this month. Now it’s our turn…

Our last two birthday parties were low-key DIY affairs, held at our house in Dili, East Timor. With no party stores to speak of, I spent weeks sourcing supplies – procuring goody bag contents, decoration-making materials, cake ingredients, and creative birthday presents from every corner of the city.

I became a pro at finding hidden treasures in unexpected (and often dusty) places – from back corner display cases to tin-roofed roadside stalls. I stayed up late with my glue gun and got up early to bake. Armed with a great no-melt frosting recipe (essential in the tropics), I was ready to go. (more…)

Shaula Bellour (Indonesia)

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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VIRGINIA, USA: Moving Family Around the World

Just because I am a list maker doesn’t mean I always have it all together. And just because I check things off the list, on-time, and double-check each list, doesn’t mean I’m able to feel calm and confident. Not when it comes to moving my whole life and family half way around the world it doesn’t. No. Last week, I satisfactorily ticked off items on my list for moving to Vientiane, Laos from Washington DC, USA. This week, I feel nervous and uncertain about every single aspect of our lives that will change.

It’s the things that you can’t tick off of lists, uncontrollable unpredictable things, that throw you out of your comfort zone and force you to surrender to new and different ways of going about the business of everyday life. It all works out in the end, sometimes even for the better. Yet you end up feeling off kilter having to tilt your head sideways to feel balanced while it’s happening. Eventually, life is normalized again and your posture corrects itself. But this takes time.

So what do I do to stay grounded during this period of high anxiety? I try to accomplish the things I CAN do, focus on the things that I have control over. Like my lists. Read on if you’d like to get a sense of my world at the moment, in all it’s wanderlust and jet-setting glamor. (more…)

Dee Harlow (Laos)

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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VIRGINIA, USA: Ode to Joy

As mothers we’re all pretty tired most of the time, worn down from the demands of raising the most important people on earth, and we need each other’s company to share in the difficulties and confide in the hardships.

Sharing helps us feel less alone in our endeavors and assuages our insecurities and doubts. It was very therapeutic for me to start writing for WMB a year ago, especially during a particularly difficult period when I shared my motherhood experiences while living in Mexico in my post “Living Under House Arrest“.

It is a great gift that we can learn from and lean on each other by sharing the difficult moments,but today I need to write about the immense joy that I feel as a parent. The joy that is still expanding inside of me since last night, forcing me to find an outlet to wax on about how happy I am before I explode.

In my sharing, I hope to celebrate my joy with you as well as allow all of us to remember the fleeting moments that make this whole parenting thing so immeasurably worthwhile. You will know what I mean… (more…)

Dee Harlow (Laos)

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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Saturday Sidebar: Is Your Bed a Family Bed?

For this week’s Saturday Sidebar, our writers were asked,

“Do you co-sleep or have your child(ren) sleep in their own room? If they sleep in their own room, did you do this from the start?”

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

Multitasking Mumma of Ontario, Canada writes:
“We co-slept when my daughter was an infant because it was easier for feedings. Now that she’s almost two she starts out in her own bed and comes in during the middle of the night. I don’t mind one bit because I know that time is fleeting and I won’t get these moments back.” (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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TEXAS, USA: Having Twins: the Body Aftermath

I recently found out I’m pregnant…with twins. What was going to be our second child turned into #2 and #3. This is exciting, overwhelming, and terrifying, and yet part of it is me just being a tad self-centered.

How will I look after?

I’ve struggled with my body image as long as I can remember.

But honest to goodness, I remember looking in the mirror at 7 months with my daughter Bella, huge as I was, and feeling so confident about it all. The stretch marks (I got like 4 but don’t hate me – the hyperemesis I had made up for lack of them), the huge belly, the cave of a belly button (mine never popped. It just kinda stretched into a large hole…).

And this time around, it’s the same, but more. I’m having twins. So at 10 weeks I already have a noticeable (more…)

Diana

Diana blogs on raising a toddler daughter, the loss of her twin boys, and their families' adoption in progress on the aptly named Hormonal Imbalances, as well as Babble, Oreck, World Moms Blog, and Attachment Parenting International. She's been syndicated on BlogHer and The Huffington Post. Smaller glimpses into her day are on Twitter and Facebook, and on <a href="http://pinterest.com/lifeasasahm"

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