Since we are headed on a blogcation, we thought we would leave you, our readers, with some links to some of our favorite posts to catch up on some reading while we’re away.
Tara B. of Washington State, USA writes:
“Karyn’s March 2011 post titled “Sometimes, I Hide in My Pantry” is one of my favorite posts. In this post, Karyn is funny, relatable and informative (defining “domestic blindness”). As a mother of two growing boys myself, this post stuck in my mind and made me feel better about my own home’s contained chaos.”
Ana Gaby Turner of Indonesia writes:
“I really liked A Lady In France’s “We do What We Can“. This was one of the first posts I read on WMB and I could relate so much to it that it got me thinking I’m not the only crazy one trying to acclimatize to a new culture while keeping my own.” (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.
Photo of the author’s children Photo by: Thirdeyemom.
My son’s first grade report card came in the mail today. I eagerly opened it with anxious anticipation. When I read the report, my heart swelled with pride. Max had done exceptionally well his first year of school and has improved in every single subject. What I liked best of all was that he received advanced marks in “effort and participation”. Clearly he was going to go a long way in life.
As a mother of two all too quickly growing children, sometimes I take a break from my day-to-day worries and obligations to reflect. It doesn’t happen often enough, believe me. But occasionally I have some time like now to sit back and think. To think about the future I want for my children and the dreams I have for them as a parent.
You see, I take parenthood seriously. Perhaps sometimes a little too seriously. I believe as parents we have the toughest job we’ll ever love. Our duty as a parent is not only to provide the basic care, love and affection for our children but also to prepare our children to enter the world. In my opinion, that is the toughest, most challenging aspect of parenthood possible. (more…)
Third Eye Mom is a stay-at-home mom living in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her two children Max (6) and Sophia (4). Her children keep her continually busy and she is constantly amazed by the imagination, energy and joy of life that they possess! A world wanderer at heart, she has also been fortunate to have visited over 30 countries by either traveling, working, studying or volunteering and she continues to keep on the traveling path.
A graduate of French and International Relations from the University of Wisconsin Madison, where she met her husband Paul, she has always been a Midwest gal living in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Chicago. This adventurous mom loves to be outside doing anything athletic (hiking, running, biking, skiing, snowshoeing or simply enjoying nature), to travel and volunteer abroad, to write, and to spend time with her beloved family and friends.
Her latest venture involves her dream to raise enough money on her own to build and open a brand-new school in rural Nepal, and to teach her children to live compassionately, open-minded lives that understand different cultures and the importance of giving back to those in need. Third Eye Mom believes strongly in the value of making a difference in the world, no matter how small it may be. If there is a will, there is a way, and that anything is possible (as long as you set your heart and mind to it!).
Visit her on her blog, Thirdeyemom, where she writes about her travels and experiences in other lands!
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
Right now I live in Port Washington, New York but the clock is ticking. Starting in August, I will be living in (and blogging from) Tunis, the capital of Tunisia.
Where I am from is a more complicated question. I am a cultural mutt (Father Irish, Mother Peruvian) and global nomad, having been raised in the UK, Spain and Ireland and having accompanied my hubby to Japan. But my longest stint anywhere has been Long Island, New York (where I suffered through to high school). I think that’s enough to claim a place as home right?
What language(s) do you speak?
French and Spanish well. Japanese and German pitifully. Have delusions of learning Arabic. (more…)
Natalia was born a stone's throw from the Queen's racetrack in Ascot, UK and has been trying to get a ticket to the races and a fabulous hat to go with it ever since. She was born to a Peruvian mother and an Irish father who kept her on her toes, moving her to Spain, Ireland and back to the UK before settling her in New York for the length of middle and high school. She is still uncertain of what she did to deserve that.
She fled to Boston for college and then Washington, D.C. to marry her wonderful husband, who she met in her freshman year at college. As a military man, he was able to keep her in the migratory lifestyle to which she had become accustomed. Within 5 months of marriage, they were off to Japan where they stayed for a wonderful 2 and one half years before coming home to roost. Baby Xavier was born in New York in 2011 and has not slept since.
A joy and an inspiration, it was Xavier who moved Natalia to entrepreneurship and the launch of CultureBaby. She has loved forging her own path and is excited for the next step for her family and CultureBaby.
Natalia believes in the potential for peace that all children carry within them and the importance of raising them as global citizens. She loves language, history, art and culture as well as Vietnamese Pho, Argentinian Malbec, English winters, Spanish summers and Japanese department stores...and she still hopes one day to catch the number 9 race with Queen Liz.
You can find her personal blog, The Culture Mum Chronicles.
There’s a coffee shop next to my workplace. A mom group meets up there, and when they are in session, I have to navigate an obstacle course of strollers.
Strollers, strollers, everywhere, and if you look closely you might spot the ten pound baby nestled at the heart of each.
Before I had a baby, I always wondered why women need something the size of a shopping cart to transport a bundle the size of a loaf of bread.
Even more baffling to me were the women who choose to lug their babies around by a car seat handle. When I was in grade eleven, I was given an eight pound “baby think-it-over”, which required tending through day and night. The baby (who I dubbed Jan Sebastian and grew deeply attached to, to the dismay of my Family Studies instructor) also came with a plastic car seat.
Tucked in my arms, Jan Sebastian didn’t weigh much and was easy enough to transport. But when I tried to carry him in that plastic seat, my shoulder started to ache.
It made me wonder what I was missing – why do so many women subject themselves to this? (more…)
Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world.
Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write.
Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets
I know that the common saying is “Mommy’s boy and Daddy’s girl” … but in my home it’s the other way around … even though all 4 of us are “tight”!
From the moment he was born, my son and my husband immediately “clicked”. It was my husband who was able to calm him down when he had colic, and it was my husband who tamed the “terrible twos”. As he grew older, it was my husband who not only understood, but shared, his fascination with (and enjoyment of) computers and video games. Now my son is 19 years old and he works with his dad as a Website Developer. Me … I’m barely able to work the TV remote control! (more…)
Mamma Simona was born in Rome (Italy) but has lived in Cape Town (South Africa) since she was 8 years old. She studied French at school but says she’s forgotten most of it! She speaks Italian, English and Afrikaans. Even though Italian is the first language she learned, she considers English her "home" language as it's the language she's most comfortable in. She is happily married and the proud mother of 2 terrific teenagers! She also shares her home with 2 cats and 2 dogs ... all rescues.
Mamma Simona has worked in such diverse fields as Childcare, Tourism, Library Services, Optometry, Sales and Admin! (With stints of SAHM in-between). She’s really looking forward to the day she can give up her current Admin job and devote herself entirely to blogging and (eventually) being a full-time grandmother!
Since we are headed on a blogcation, we thought we would leave you, our readers, with some links to some of our favorite posts to catch up on some reading while we’re away.
