Skip to content
  • Home
  • About Me

Third Culture Mama

Raising bridge-builders

  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

baby

Musings

I’m the third-born

October 9, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

Hey, um, excuse me? I’ve been crying here for quite some time. Can you even hear me above the ruckus? Can someone just get me already? I know, I know, […]

Review

Freefall to Fly

November 3, 2015November 5, 2015 Third Culture Mama

A few months back, I wrote a review of the novel Americanah because of its rich layers and interwoven themes: Immigration, The Third Culture, Cross-cultural living. Books must really be of […]

Multicultural

“They’re gonna hate you for it”

July 16, 2015July 17, 2015 Third Culture Mama

I have been grateful for so many encouraging comments and emails about traveling with small kids, multilingualism, and cross-cultural living on social media. Then, almost out of nowhere, this one […]

Travel with kids

Adventures in China with small kids

June 25, 2015June 27, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Not so many Western families travel to China with young kids for a vacation. That was the first thing that struck us as we flew to Shanghai a few weeks […]

Multilingualism

Bilingual Avenue Podcast

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 Third Culture Mama

I am really honored to feature on this week’s episode of Bilingual Avenue, a weekly podcast with insightful tips and advice from language experts and normal parents like us, raising […]

Travel with kids

“H” is for…Humility

June 5, 2015October 21, 2015 Third Culture Mama

“I’m going to China, where are you going, Grammie?” Ayo asked last week as if nothing were. I didn’t think much of it at the time but it really marked […]

Multilingualism

Sibling dynamics in multilingualism

April 27, 2015July 2, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Choosing and implementing a language strategy with your first child is often more straightforward than when the next child comes along. We generally speak more to our first-borns, we spend […]

Multilingualism

Expecting a multilingual baby!

February 19, 2015May 6, 2015 Third Culture Mama

What a life-altering experience it is to welcome a first baby into your home. Like many first time mamas who find themselves in this age of information overload, I felt […]

Review

Lullabies of the World

October 1, 2014November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Looking for peaceful lullabies that you will like / won’t drive you totally bonkers when played over and over in the car? Check! On the hunt for lullabies from all […]

Motherhood

Chatty blog “reduction”

February 16, 2014November 24, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Struggling to find the time to do the many things that I love. One of those many things is to journal. A few days ago, I started using the voice […]

Birth

You ate your what?!

February 2, 2014November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

I ate my placenta. And based on the squeamish reactions I have received since sharing that nifty piece of information, I thought I should write a little more about the […]

Birth

Nine days postpartum…

January 3, 2014November 24, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Toddler naptime stream of consciousness, nine days into it… Trying this without using the “delete” key. Getting too old for these nighttime feedings. I love stroking Délice’s cheeks. Oh my […]

Musings

Tia Camp

November 7, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Well, girls, I am pretty sure I am the luckiest pregnant mama out there. My sister-in-law, a.k.a. “Tia”, recently declared she would be taking Ayo one day a fortnight in […]

Yum!

Birthday weekend

September 1, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Wow, this past week has been hectic. Tall Mountain was busy conference-hopping last weekend and shooting the next film until late at night most nights this past week. Back on […]

Pregnancy

Pregnancy 2.0

August 15, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

In case you haven’t gathered from various social media sites or missed the subtle change from “child” to “children” in the blog description, I am 21 weeks pregnant with bébé numéro […]

Travel with kids

Sleeping baby bubbly

June 19, 2013November 24, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Last night was jetlag night number 5 and Ayo slept through! Hooray! I am not sure if it had something to do with this being the fifth night or based […]

Flying me crazy!

June 18, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

It is hard to believe that this is Ayo’s fourth trip to France in less than a year. He is such a fortunate toddler and he doesn’t even know it! […]

Travel

Mexico at 14 months

May 13, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Three loads of laundry are piled up next to me and bright colored toys are strewn all over the first floor. I had to step over a sippy cup and […]

Birth

For the birth geeks!

April 9, 2013April 17, 2013 Third Culture Mama

Here is an interview between Future Midwives of America and Aubre Tompkins (CNM, MSN), who is the clinical director of Mountain Midwifery Center. Aubre explains some of the joys of […]

Review

The World Until Yesterday

March 21, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

I first heard about best-selling author Jared Diamond and his newly released The World Until Yesterday – What we can Learn from Traditional Societies in an in-flight magazine. In the […]

Cultural Reflections

Rwandan colored spectacles

March 19, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Have you ever thought about how strange your life looks behind a different cultural shade of our world’s glasses? Today, my Rwandan mama friend came over for a spontaneous playdate, […]

Birth

No longer an infant!

March 12, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

It’s Ayo’s very first birthday today and all sorts of thoughts are running through my mind. My first year of mamahood was mundane and humbling. At the same time, it […]

Slovenian-French 1st birthday!

March 10, 2013April 6, 2013 Third Culture Mama

Joyeux Anniversaire a little in advance and a slightly belated Vse najboljše to these darling little ones, born within nine days of one another. xxx

Babies and language

March 7, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

For all of you interested in infant language assimilation, here are some fascinating TED talks I just have to share! Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babies (On critical periods […]

Birth

Maisons & Maternage

March 2, 2013March 5, 2015 Third Culture Mama

You’d think there would be birth centers all over France. Natural birth advocate Michel Odent, is, after all French! This report on last night’s 8pm TF1 news shows that maisons […]

Spirituality

The early years…

February 18, 2013November 24, 2014 Third Culture Mama

My first two were spent aboard the floating hospital in this 12 minute clip, which aired on 60 Minutes this past weekend. True story! That’s me pictured with my brother […]

Review

Baby Catcher

February 7, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Last night, I finished reading Peggy Vincent’s memoir as a home-birth midwife: Baby Catcher, Chronicles of a Modern Midwife. I think I could have read all 322 pages in one […]

Operation: Got Milk?

January 29, 2013February 13, 2013 Third Culture Mama

I thought we’d be breastfeeding exclusively for a year, but Ayo seems to be thinking otherwise. In all honesty, I’m not too sad about it. As someone recently said, we’ll […]

Musings

Visiting Mrs. L

January 15, 2013November 24, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Mamie has forever suggested taking Ayo to a nursing home to provide some cackling cheer to sweet grannies. We finally got a chance to do so yesterday. Tata Mimi, our […]

International travel with baby

December 14, 2012December 17, 2012 Third Culture Mama

It’s hard to believe that Ayo has been on 16 flights in the last six months. I’d say that flying with him is definitely getting easier as we learn how […]

Seizing the weekday

December 7, 2012December 8, 2012 Third Culture Mama

While I’d much rather have spent today visiting friends, we really needed to use our final weekday to meet with real-estate agents instead. Tall Mountain back from Austria (after India […]

8 month favs

December 3, 2012December 14, 2012 Third Culture Mama

Rocking out to music and noticing that my buddy is humming along to it too, but in soprano. The enthusiastic shake of a small plastic bottle filled with dry beans, […]

A walk in the park

October 15, 2012October 15, 2012 Third Culture Mama

Outside: Golden leaves glistening in the late afternoon sunlight on a warm autumn day. Inside: One baby-on-the-mend who had been quiet in his PJs all day. One papa that could […]

  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Recent Posts

  • My English name is Jack.

  • Let the Summer of (multilingual) Reading begin!

  • 5 wonderful new cross-cultural books well worth your time

  • Meet Emily Steele Jackson, author of TCK novel “Home, James”

  • You belong here.

Email Updates

Recent Comments

  • Nadine on This gift of diversity
  • John on “They’re gonna hate you for it”
  • jack buck on NYC with a toddler?
  • Priscilla on Third Culture Kids in marriage: 10 survey results & trends
  • DP Snyder on The case against bilingual books

Categories

Tags

African air travel baby baby food birth books breastfeeding China cloth diapering creative culture shock Europe food France French German Germany injustice jetlag Language list Mandarin marriage meal ideas medical moving multicultural Multilingual OPOL parenting postpartum pregnancy reflections review running schedule spirituality Switzerland TCK transition travel UK USA Women Write31Days

Search

Blogs I follow

  • A midwife on the Path
  • all mussed up
  • Bringing up Baby Bilingual
  • Carrying Wonder
  • European Mama
  • Libby Stephens
  • Panda Mom
  • Purple Phoenix Journey
  • Sinosplice
  • The Front Yard Frontier
  • the piri-piri lexicon
  • Total Immersion – French Style
  • Two Red Scarves
  • Whatevs…
Multicultural Kid Blogs
'Raising multilingual children' blogging carnival
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook