Today, Priya shares strategies for coping with the missing mommy blues:
Until recently, the fact that I worked outside of the home didn't really seem to bother my daughter, but there was a noticeable change in her attitude once she turned two. She now clings to me more when I am around, asks her dad for me when I am not there, and often, if she goes to bed before I get home, is cranky in the morning when she sees me. If I thought I knew mommy guilt before, hearing her cry "Mommy, don't go! Mommy, don't work!" as I was walk out the door elevates my guilt to a whole new level.Today, Priya shares strategies for coping with the missing mommy blues:
Until recently, the fact that I worked outside of the home didn't really seem to bother my daughter, but there was a noticeable change in her attitude once she turned two. She now clings to me more when I am around, asks her dad for me when I am not there, and often, if she goes to bed before I get home, is cranky in the morning when she sees me. If I thought I knew mommy guilt before, hearing her cry "Mommy, don't go! Mommy, don't work!" as I was walk out the door elevates my guilt to a whole new level.
Today, Hillary of Mass Audubon shares tips on befriending bugs:
If you caught my last post about dragonflies, you will know that my daughter's fear of bugs borders on insanity. Lucky for me, I work for a wildlife organization where bugs are revered. In order to tackle this fear head on -- both for my daughter's benefit and to share with those of you wrestling with the same issue -- I checked in with Tia Pinney, teacher naturalist extraordinaire at Drumlin Farm, and Bob Speare, camp director at Wildwood, Mass Audubon's overnight camp for advice. Here's what I learned.
Today, Jules shares an important lesson learned from her miscarriage. And resources to share with those in need:
October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and having miscarried just a few weeks ago, the month holds a very new meaning for me. I was ten weeks pregnant when I stared in a blurry eyed panic at that flat line on the screen...just one week earlier, I had seen that fantastically fast flicker of my baby's perfect heartbeat. I was crushed, and at my D&C the following day, the tears flowed heavily, particularly knowing that, ironically, it was the labor and delivery entrance that took us to the day surgery ward where the fetus -- and my high hopes -- would be removed.
Today, Jane (also of see jane blog) shares her four favorite ways to pin it forward:
Some people consider Pinterest a bit of a narcissistic time waster. After all, it tends to be all about the things you love, right? So I was utterly surprised when a dear friend recently used my Pinterest board in a most thoughtful, unselfish way (more on that in a second). It made me think about how to use Pinterest for reasons other than cataloguing my own wants.
Our final site visit in Ethiopia represented the awesome and the ironic. Muya (which means talent) is a woman-owned, fair trade business that has "made it" in many ways. In contrast to the primitive yet productive trappings of fashionABLE, Muya is situated in Addis Ababa on a rather restorative feeling compound -- a series of modern buildings (vs. wood and tin roofed huts) nestled between plenty of foliage. They make a gorgeous array of home and fashion products and produce scarves for Lemlem (which distributes to clients such as J. Crew). Yet despite their successes, they still struggle to gain footing with sellers; largely, it seems, due to outsider stereotypes of Ethiopia.
Today, Lindsey (also of A Design So Vast) shares a favorite game:
My children are crazed for board games. We have teetering stacks of game boxes in our family room and I feel like every time I straighten couch cushions I find a stray die. There are definitely some favorites, some default choices that they like to play the best. One of these is Swipe. My son picked it out one afternoon with my mother and brought it home, and from the first time we played we were both hooked.
Ever since reading Roger Thurow's The Last Hunger Season I've been thinking a lot about global food issues and about how simple agricultural educational practices (e.g., how to space out seeds, fertilize, water) are huge game changers when it comes to sustainability and helping farmers in third world countries not only feed their families, but access other necessities such as education. Our visits to USAID's ENGINE hub and a nutrition demonstration showed the progress being made in this direction.
The more Ethiopian families I've met and the longer the time apart from my family grows, I find myself increasingly wondering about how the girls are doing in school. Did Laurel have a good day? Was the special Italian, art, music, or gym? [I can never keep the schedule straight.] What songs did Violet sing today at circle? All of what I envision -- the shiny classrooms, piles of books, and endless snack supply -- lies in stark contrast to what I'm seeing on the ground in Ethiopia, whether at traditional schools or at the Population Council's safe learning spaces for girls suffering in urban slums. The program is called BiruhTesfa (bright future), and I really need to tell you about it today.
Today was a day of inspiration. We rose at 4am and flew from Addis Ababa to Bahir Dar. We then spent many hours traversing bumpy rural roads on a bus. Our first two stops were the Madera Woreda Health Office and Anbesame Health Center, which both benefit from USAID funding and have subsequently made great strides in providing maternal and child health, family planning, and nutrition services in rural areas. Our third stop was to the Sene Mariam Women's Beekeeping Group, a program that is funded by USAID's Feed the Future initiative and that was developed to provide training and create jobs for disadvantaged women. I was inspired not only by how impacting USAID's programs are, but by the courage of the women we met at all three stops.
This morning the ONE Moms journey took us to the Mojo secondary and primary schools in Mojo, Ethiopia. Both schools operate at ~1:45 teacher/student ratio and benefit from the UK Department for International Development (DFID)'s initiatives around basic services (e.g., sanitation) and education improvement (e.g., text books, teacher development). The on-site improvements (e.g., computers, books, lower student/teacher ratios -- the secondary school used to operate at a 1:67 ratio) and quantitative results (e.g., in the past 5 years, the rate for passing university entrance exams has climbed from 60 to 89%) are remarkable and I wanted to share some audio and video.
I have been a complete jumble of emotions since arriving in Addis Ababa on the ONE Moms mission trip. Yesterday, I was a bit of a wreck after bonding with a child at Mary Joy. But today, despite the painful histories and continued hardships to which I was exposed, I experienced a day of hope. I saw progress and great strides being made to improve the lives of Ethiopian women and their children. I saw it in the form of fashionABLE and the Hamlin Fistula Hospital.
The beginning of my journey to Ethiopia was not ideal. I slept through my 3:30 am alarm and was woken to the sound of my phone ringing -- the cab company calling to find out why I missed my 4:15 am reservation. Luckily, they doubled back and I made it to my flight out of Boston (barely). Then we had a 5 hour delay in Dulles (I am forever grateful to my friend Liz for her fine companionship and generosity during the delay) and the 13 hour flight to Addis Ababa. But anyway, I am finally here in Ethiopia!
Today, Kate shares a favorite book:
I've always shared my love of libraries with my daughter. When she was still a tiny bundle, I would push her stroller up the hill to our local branch library, both to give us an outing and to reorient me to the world of books I hoped to someday return to after we were past the newborn months (I did, and surprisingly quickly). Now that she is in 1st grade, we often stop at our neighborhood library on our way home in the evenings, and I am pleased to see that my daughter takes pride in her library card and her increasing ability to pick out and read her own books.This Saturday I set off on the long journey to Ethiopia as part of ONE Moms. It's starting to feel real (particularly when I look at the list of things I need to take care of before I depart), but I don't think the magnitude of the trip will really set in until we land in Addis Ababa. I've received a lot of questions about this trip so I thought I would address the most common of them all in one place.
Today, PPLM Parent Education Program Manager Amy Cody shares tips for what to do when you find your child "playing doctor" with another child:
Now that school is back in session, your kids are making new friends, reuniting with old ones, and spending more time on play dates. Given the timing, I wanted to share some thoughts on a question that comes up a lot in my parent education workshops: what to do if you find your child "playing doctor" with another child.
A few weeks ago I arrived home from Mighty Summit with my heart full of admiration for the talented women I connected with on the trip, and my head and notebook full of inspiration resulting from conversation and reflection time. I also returned with lovely accessories -- some of which I've been wearing, well, pretty much constantly. I wanted to share them here because they are awesome and I think you will love them too.
Today, Jules shares 5 kids' meals that kids can help make:
I always encourage my kids to help in the kitchen. It's good training for them (think eventual meal and snack time independence!). It offers a fun activity for us to do together. And it helps us get to a necessary end goal. Here are five tried and true household favorites that are easy to knock together, nutritious, and amenable to little helping hands.