5 wonderful new cross-cultural books well worth your time
Following a stint of abandoned books, I’ve had the pleasure of reading a few phenomenal ones that have really broadened my horizons. What a relief! It made me think of […]
China
Meet Emily Steele Jackson, author of TCK novel “Home, James”
Last month, I devoured “Home, James“, a brand new novel (Feb. 2018) featuring Third Culture Kid, James, who makes an epic ‘return home’ to the US after growing up in […]
Third Culture Kids in love: Jackie’s story
Welcome to the third and final part of the “TCKs in Love” interview series. Join me as I interview part Chinese-Malaysian, part Filipino-Chinese Third Culture Kid Jackie who is married […]
Holidays are for world-schooling
Well, we’re back from our adventure to Italy. Wow. The film director and family were staying at our place between the London film premiere and a London award ceremonies (yeay!). […]
Pediatricians around the world!
We just recently took all three kids, ages four and under, to our pediatrician here in the United States. It’s difficult to even describe the level of chaos generated by […]
This is my world.
Hi. I’m Ayo and it was my birthday this month. I’m four years old now. Ayo is my nickname. It’s actually my middle name. It’s short for Ayodelé. That’s not […]
6 tips for TCKs returning “home”
The move to my passport culture, a country I hadn’t lived in for 20 years, was littered with pain and grief. I felt the physical ache in my heart as […]
New language goals!
You might remember how down I was on New Year’s resolutions in 2015. I didn’t set any goals at the beginning of last year other than the resolve to just […]
Language-learning: an alive, natural, changing process
When I first thought about this month’s Multilingual Carnival topic on “lost languages“, I didn’t think we had all that much to share. Our kids are all under four years […]
“They’re gonna hate you for it”
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 […]
Adventures in China with small kids
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 […]
“H” is for…Humility
“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 […]
Sibling dynamics in multilingualism
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 […]
Learn about Asia through crafts & activities!
Today, I have the immense honor to host the March Multicultural Kids Blog carnival on the topic of Asian crafts and activities. In fact, I am posting this on my […]
Ditching Brittany
I sat in my favorite solid wooden chair at our kitchen table and stared out the window. Many an “aha” moment has come to me on this comforting chair with […]
Bilingualism: 3 Myths
It is amazing how much unsolicited and unfounded advice you receive when you expose your children to multiple languages. These misconceptions often come from individuals who never had a bilingual […]
Introducing Mandarin
Ayo’s first introduction to Mandarin was uneventful. I didn’t take him to some toddler class. Oh no, it wasn’t that glamorous. I have come to realize that the best language […]
Mama thoughts at TWO!
We have a two year old! We once marveled at our infant boy’s mini features, wondering who he would become. Today, we already have glimpses of who this little boy […]
NYC Chinatown and CMoM
It turned out really helpful for us to fly into New York with one whole family day to figure out public transportation before Ayo and I were left to explore […]
Bend, Not Break
Unexpected packages are the best! Well, non work-related unexpected packages, that is. The other day, that sort of package arrived on our doorstep. It gets better. It was addressed…to me! […]
新年快乐
Happy Chinese New Year! We had such a blast celebrating Ayo’s first Chinese New Year at church. It was a bilingual Mandarin/English service with music, dance, short preaching, kids performance, […]
Flirtin’ with Asia
An evening watching Whale Wars, an entertaining show about stopping Japanese Antartic whaling 🙂 Korean roasted wasabi seaweed snacks A first taste of Chinese church last Sunday Listening to Chinesepod. […]
Queen of Quiche comeback
Did you know that I used to be informally known as the Queen of Quiche? Feeling extra hungry? There was a quiche for that. Slightly under the weather? There was […]
From China with love.
This week we have a special guest from China staying with us. Coco was one of two people we knew when we moved to Shanghai in 2008. Since moving to […]