GLOBAL TWITTER PARTIES!

Ever wonder how mothers around the world do things?

Our international contributors will be signing into Twitter to discuss:

“Differences in Motherhood

Around the World”

Thursday, May 10, 2012

7-8am EST (US/NYC)

AND

7-8pm EST (US/NYC)

Go to tweetchat.com hash tag: #worldmomsblog

Not sure what time that is where you live? Go to the World Clock to be on time!

The winner of a World Moms Blog t-shirt from our previous caption contest is reader, Elizabeth’s Boys, who commented,

“AHHH!!!! You’re getting my best dress from Target all wet!” 

It’s time for another caption contest with JC Little, the Animated Woman, of Montreal, Canada! She has created this next animation especially for World Moms Blog! Winner receives a World Moms Blog t-shirt!

Now, it’s up to you to tell us what this mama or baby is saying!  It can be funny, cultural, in another language (please translate, too!), or make a statement. Leave your caption in the comments section of this post, and our editors will pick their favorite caption!  Read more…

Photo of writer holding and meeting her son for the first time in the orphanage in Saigon, Vietnam.

On a hot, steamy day in August of 2008, my husband and I stepped off of an airplane in Saigon, Vietnam.   Mere moments after touching down in this faraway land, we found ourselves standing outside of an orphanage in the sweltering summer heat, waiting to meet someone we had only seen in pictures.

And that’s when it happened; my life changed in two very important ways. An eleven-month old child was placed into my arms, and in an instant I was simultaneously transformed into a first-time mother as well as an advocate for the voiceless children of the world.

Looking back, it is hard to believe that such a profound change in how I defined myself could have happened in a single, solitary moment.  Months later I would realize how that one moment would end up overthrowing and redirecting the entire trajectory of my life.

After returning home, I started thinking about all the children we had seen in Vietnam, especially the ones residing in the orphanage. Once you see their faces, you cannot forget them.  Those of us in the international adoption community know this truth all too well: life in an orphanage is hard, and it can be devastating physically, emotionally and mentally.

As I witnessed my son struggle through his own post-institutional trauma, it seemed that I carried the images of his orphanage mates with me constantly.  I would stare at my son and be overtaken with a sense of responsibility to help take care of those we left behind. I had no idea where to start. I began researching about the plight of children, families and orphans in Vietnam. Read more…

Breathing into Relationship:

The Dance Between Diversity and Unity 

The highest form of intimacy is love that does not annihilate difference. Evelyn Keller

I recently had dinner with some new friends from Nepal, a husband and wife and two younger children. My husband and I and our two children showed up to the apartment where chicken wings were frying, dal was bubbling in a silver pot and fried pakora was placed neatly on a plate.

As we sipped warm spicy chai tea, we talked in short sentences, learning to understand each other. I heard stories of loneliness and isolation in a new land, adventures to the mountains and the sand dunes of southern Colorado, and stories of the gods Sita and Ram from the Hindu tradition.We took pictures together and laughed and ran around the small apartment, playing hide and seek with a pink Nepali scarf tied around our heads.

Ajita, the Nepali woman, spent most of her time in the kitchen cooking, remaining very quiet and eating by herself in the living room. I felt discomfort arise at what seemed to be a cultural tradition, the woman preparing and serving the food but not participating in eating the meal.

When we sat down to eat, we were served with solid copper plates that are used only for “special guests.” We were asked if we wanted forks or if we wanted to eat with our hands and we all opted for the latter. Giri taught us how to eat properly with our hands as we tried to master this surprisingly difficult task.

He said to us, “I have tried to eat with a fork here, but I just do not feel nourished when I do.” After a delicious meal and nourishing fellowship, we left bowing saying namaste to one another. Giri said, “You are like family to us.”

On the way home, my family and I had a conversation about difference. My children shared how great it was to eat with their hands and asked if they could do that all of the time. We talked about the children’s names and how they were different from any names they had ever heard. We then talked about cultural differences that felt uncomfortable, like Ajita not eating with us or speaking very much. Read more…

One feature of living in this part of the world is the availability of affordable household help. In many ways it’s a wonderful thing, but it also takes some getting used to.

When we lived in the U.S., I was a typical multi-tasking mom – juggling work, two babies, one dog, a frequently traveling husband, and a 100-year-old house. I had a part-time childcare arrangement to cover my working hours, but given the steep hourly rate, in my mind even a quick errand had a “cost”. I would occasionally splurge on a house cleaner as a gift to myself – usually before family visited (and always a “deep clean” because it was so rare).

During those busy days, I would often daydream about how nice it would be if we didn’t have to spend our precious downtime scrubbing, sweeping, and mowing. How lovely it would be to have more time and energy for other things. How much easier life would be. Read more…

World Moms Bloggers, Dee Harlow, Kyla P'an, Jennifer Burden and Nicole Melancon met up for the first time in Washington, DC for a UN Foundation Summit for Shot@Life!

What better way for World Moms Blog writers to meet up than at a UN Foundation Volunteer Summit?

Recently, I headed to Washington, DC by invitation from the UN Foundation to speak at a summit to help fire start a grass-roots movement across the United States in support of their Shot@Life campaign.  This campaign supports vaccinations to save the lives of children in developing nations.

The foundation gave me the opportunity to invite a few fellow Americans who I thought would be interested in championing the Shot@Life cause. World Moms Blog editors, Kyla P’an in Massachusetts, USA, who had done previous service work in India, and Nicole Melancon in Minnesota, USA, who had raised money to  build a school in Nepal singlehandedly, answered the call.  And I’m so glad they did! Read more…