Saturday Sidebar: How and where did you meet your husband/partner? – Part 2

This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question is a sequel of the Part – 1 of where the world moms explained how they met their husbands/partners.

“How and where did you meet your husband/partner?”

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

Elizabeth_Atalay

Elizabeth_Atalay

Elizabeth Atalay of Massachusetts, USA writes:

“One night my mother was admitted to the emergency room for a complication with her breast cancer that had metastasized, My husband was 3 months into his internship and the intern on call who admitted her, she fell in love right away and spent her entire week in the hospital working with the nurses to set me up with him. (Thankfully I did not know!) By the end of the week, when she was no longer under his care, he asked me out. 9 months later my mother walked me down the aisle when we were married. She lived to know I was pregnant with our first child, and to know her own two children were set with their own families.”

Jennifer Burden of New Jersey, USA writes: “I was living in Hoboken, NJ at the time and working in NYC. My friend Hannah asked if I would show her friend Dave and his friends around NYC because they were coming to town for a long weekend. I was no NYC expert, but took them to the holes in the wall kind of bars that I liked to meet my friends in! Steve and I met at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in midtown, where Hannah and I met up with the guys to take them out. We split up into 3 cabs. Steve was in mine. He jokingly asked me to marry him within minutes of meeting him in the middle of a conversation we were all having. We dated Trans-Atlantic for a year and 3/4’s (seeing each other on average every 6 weeks) and got engaged before ever living on the same continent. We’ll be married 11 years this month and have 2 little girls.” (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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FRANCE: “Entiendo”

FRANCE: “Entiendo”

Photo of author’s son in Paris, France.

In my other life, as I like to call it, I was the translator. I often found myself sitting at a kitchen table with school documents sprawled out between me and an anxious mother. As a family therapist with seven years of Spanish classes behind me, these were the moments that most overwhelmed me. A mother sitting across the table, watching my mouth for familiar words, nodding her head with approval, or murmuring, “No entiendo” when confused. Slowly translating each document using basic Spanish vocabulary and many hand gestures, together we unraveled the mysteries of new school enrollment, calming her fears and reservations about sending her child to yet another new school.

In the fall of 2011, I said good-bye to that life and hello, or rather, “bonjour” to a new one. My husband, two-year-old son, and I had accepted an expatriate assignment to Paris, France for two to five years. Once our things were packed and shipped and our house rented, we checked into a hotel and patiently waited for our visas to be approved, a wait we were told could be as much as two weeks. (more…)

hjunderway

Jacki, or “MommaExpat,” as she’s known in the Internet community, is a former family therapist turned stay-at-home mom in Paris, France. Jacki is passionate about issues as they relate to mothers and children on both domestic and international scenes, and is a Volunteer Ambassador for the Fistula Foundation. In addition to training for her first half marathon, Jacki can be found learning French in Paris and researching her next big trip. Jacki blogs at H J Underway, a chronicle of her daily life as a non-French speaking mom in France.

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PHILIPPINES: Sharing the Very Best of Our Selves–World Milksharing Week 2012

PHILIPPINES: Sharing the Very Best of Our Selves–World Milksharing Week 2012

Last week, a few breastfeeding advocate friends of mine alerted me and other moms to the fact that September 24th through the 30th of this year is World Milksharing Week. According to the official website, World Milksharing Week is held annually during the last week of September with this goal in mind: “to celebrate milksharing and to promote human milk as the biologically normal nourishment for babies and children.” You can read more about how the idea for this came about here. The theme for this year’s Milksharing Week is “Sharing Milk, Nurturing Community.”

Even though I consider myself pro-breastfeeding (I don’t think I can qualify as a true-blue advocate yet) and even have quite a number of blog posts about it, milksharing is something that I never really gave a serious thought about before. That was, until I read about breast milk donations, especially during times of emergencies. (You can read a bit about them here and here.) I realized that breastfeeding truly does save lives and formula milk donations could prove hazardous to the health of children affected by disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes.

Think about it: When people are stuck in evacuation centers or refugee camps, there is usually a shortage of food supplies and clean water. Diarrhea outbreaks are very common and spread easily due to the lack of proper health care and sanitation systems. According to this article on Protecting babies in emergencies: the role of the public, “babies who are not breastfed are very likely to contract diarrhea-causing illnesses from unclean water and, with a weakened immune system and limited treatment, many will die.” (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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ARKANSAS,USA: Finally an Adult

ARKANSAS,USA: Finally an Adult

Earlier this week, I experienced the moment that finally made me feel like an adult. I mean, sure, I am 39 years old and a mother to two boys. Also, I am engaged, work full-time and attend school full-time. I own a home and a car and manage to keep my finances in order.

Yet, until earlier this week, I believe there was still a part of me that was clinging to a shred of the innocence of youth.

My mom has two daughters, of which I am the youngest. My sister is seven years older than me and has always been the one to handle emergency situations. As the baby of the family, I have never had much responsibility placed on my shoulders. And that suited me just fine.  Little has been expected of me during any family crises.

My Mom is one of the toughest women that I know and it takes a great deal to slow her down. At 69 years old, her yard and house is much cleaner that mine; she works in both almost daily. I joke that she has an old school work ethic that I just will never possess. (more…)

Margie Webb (USA)

Margie Webb is a forty-something, divorced mom of three biracial sons: Isaiah (25), Caleb (20), and Elijah (6/8/1997 - 7/2/1997) and two bonus sons: Malcolm (5/10/1992 - 10/9/2015) and Marcus (25). She lives in Lafayette, Louisiana by way of Little Rock, Arkansas, and enjoys traveling, attending the theater, cooking calling the Hogs during Arkansas Razorback football season, spending time with family and friends, and is a crazy cat lady. In addition to obtaining her Bachelors and Masters degree, she also has a Graduate Certificate in Online Writing Instruction and a National HR Certification through SHRM. She excels in her career as a Human Resources Management professional. Additionally, she has represented World Moms Network as a Digital Reporter at various conferences, including the United Nations Social Good Summit. Her life has been one big adventure in twists, turns ,extreme lows, and highs. After recently embracing her new lease on life and her identity in the LGBTQ community, she is excited about what is yet to come. She can be found on Twitter@TheHunnyB

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Day 1: Social Good Summit and Clinton Global Initiative 2012

Day 1: Social Good Summit and Clinton Global Initiative 2012

World Moms Blog editors, Jennifer Burden, Nicole Melancon and Elizabeth Atalay reunite at the Social Good Summit in NYC on September 23, 2012.

This long weekend was out of control good!  Social good. World Moms Blog planned to be at the Social Good Summit in NYC, but we also received press credentials for the Clinton Global Initiative meeting, too.  Both conferences overlapped, and we found ourselves back and forth between uptown and midtown Manhattan and listening live to the likes of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Former US President Bill Clinton, Republican US Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney, author Nicolas Kristof and US President Barack Obama! Yes. Wow! (more…)

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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