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Third Culture Mama

Raising bridge-builders

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Third Culture

5 wonderful new cross-cultural books well worth your time

May 2, 2018May 2, 2018 Third Culture Mama

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 […]

Review

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

March 5, 2018March 6, 2018 Third Culture Mama

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

You belong here.

February 8, 2018February 8, 2018 Third Culture Mama

These days, I have been filling my fringe hours preparing for an upcoming Third Culture Kid speaking engagement. In my very early morning researching, there has been a most peculiar […]

Transition

The not so warm welcome home

November 22, 2017November 22, 2017 Third Culture Mama

The following is a sequel to my last post on our recent trip to America. In that article, I shared how we all went through some adjusting, after being gone […]

Third Culture

Welcome back to America, Third Culture Kids!

November 8, 2017February 8, 2018 Third Culture Mama

The kids were delirious by the time we reached the rental car place in Denver. They kept flipping from giggling to crying, while I tried to make sense of the […]

Education

World-schooling… without the camper van!

September 9, 2017September 12, 2017 Third Culture Mama

There’s a LOT of buzz in my circles around “world-schooling”.  While definitions differ, most people use the term world-schooling to talk about using the world as your school. World-schooling families […]

International Move

10 signs you are (more) at home in your new country… (phew!!)

March 29, 2017March 31, 2017 Third Culture Mama

For quite some time, we will recall the immense strain of our family’s recent move across continents, from Colorado, USA to a village in the Rhône-Alpes in France. The process […]

Travel with kids

A simple tool to help young kids remember their travels

March 7, 2017May 2, 2018 Third Culture Mama

Our tired stroller wheels wobbled from side to side along the uneven cobblestone of the Muttrah corniche. My cousin was leading us across the busy street towards the fish market […]

Motherhood

The Granny I want to be.

November 1, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

After dropping the kids off at our little village school, I took the right turn that takes me back home. I checked over my shoulder for oncoming cars, and it […]

Travel with kids

Holidays are for world-schooling

October 30, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

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!). […]

Transition

The Q&A edition!

October 25, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

In this post, I ask my husband (aka Tall Mountain) to share from his perspective how the transition has affected him.. Alright. Why don’t you start by painting a bit […]

Long-distance

Christmas in October

October 17, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

Another thing I hadn’t mentioned in my last post about house guests is that they double up as postmen and women. Growing up, not one visitor flew to America or […]

Transition

Visitors: the good and the bad

October 16, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

We don’t know when it happens along the cross-cultural adjustment timeline, but at some point the outsider becomes an insider. You’re developing a sense of belonging in your new home. […]

Third Culture

Growing a world-shaped heart

July 27, 2016 Third Culture Mama

I just love that French word “terroir”, most often used in reference to wine. Terroir describes that dynamic process by which the whole environment: climate, geography, soil, air – gives […]

Third Culture

New Eyes for an Old Home: Adult Third Culture Kids

June 29, 2016June 29, 2016 Third Culture Mama

“I am sure you’ll be so thankful to be back home in your country” wrote my friend in a farewell card as all the cogs were in motion for us […]

International Move

Keeping the family afloat

June 10, 2016November 15, 2016 Third Culture Mama

We uprooted our life just one week ago. That’s when we moved our family of five from city life in the United States to a small village in France. Wow. […]

Transition

Let the stuff go, baby!

May 23, 2016May 24, 2016 Third Culture Mama

We’re down to the final week in our house. We’ve entered that painful stage of moving where living in our house is no longer enjoyable. You know, the one where […]

Transition

Big news for our family

April 27, 2016April 30, 2016 Third Culture Mama

In case you’ve caught word, friends, the rumors are true. In just five weeks from today, we will move our little family of five to a village in France. It’s […]

Multicultural

Raising Global Citizens at Home – online summit

April 10, 2016April 10, 2016 Third Culture Mama

You might have noticed the button on the right side of my page promoting this week’s virtual summit. If not, don’t worry, I ‘m here to tell you all about […]

Birthday

This is my world.

March 31, 2016March 8, 2017 Third Culture Mama

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 […]

Multicultural

Great gifts for multicultural families

March 21, 2016April 5, 2016 Third Culture Mama

I’m not a very creative gift giver. I’ll often Google to find last minute gift ideas. (Please tell me I am not alone?) Well, guess what I found when I […]

Review

All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes

January 23, 2016January 25, 2016 Third Culture Mama

I jumped right into All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, the fifth of Maya Angelou’s seven part autobiographical series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In this installment, Angelou writes about […]

Third Culture

6 tips for TCKs returning “home”

January 18, 2016January 19, 2016 Third Culture Mama

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 […]

Multilingualism

New language goals!

January 8, 2016January 8, 2016 Third Culture Mama

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 […]

Review

2015: Top 5 Inspiring Books

January 1, 2016January 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

Happy New Year 2016, friends! May your year be filled with meaning, marked by joy in your relationships, and surrounded in peace. Thank you for reading my reflections over the […]

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 […]

Travel

When kids aren’t a distraction to your calling…

September 29, 2015September 29, 2015 Third Culture Mama

I plucked up the courage to leave my chaotic and needy small humans to invest into my future at Influence Conf this month. The time away was such a gift […]

Review

On race, immigration and love: Americanah

August 27, 2015August 28, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Introducing a book that depicts life pretty accurately on three continents and unpacks the sensitive subject of race in a relatively non-judgmental fashion. It’s a book that also humanizes the […]

Long-distance

Beyond Skype: let’s stay in touch!

August 20, 2015August 21, 2015 Third Culture Mama

8264km / 5135miles. That is the closest I have lived to my parents in the past seven years. In the meantime, we’ve had children that can walk, talk, communicate. Despite […]

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 […]

Multicultural

Learn about Asia through crafts & activities!

March 12, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

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 […]

Multicultural

Beautiful multicultural books for children

March 3, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Take a quick tour of the children’s classics in Anglo-Saxon literature and you will see a glaring predominance of Caucasian protagonists. I don’t feel it is wrong to feature white […]

Schooling

The school question

February 26, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Over the past couple of years, as parents of older kids discussed preschool, my eyes would glaze over. We have time, and we won’t be living in the United States […]

Third Culture

That global vs. local tension

December 3, 2014May 6, 2015 Third Culture Mama

A friend of mine recently sent me a message with a question that got me thinking. He asked me how I developed a hunger for both local and global experiences, […]

Multicultural

Advent around the world

December 1, 2014December 1, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Living in Germany first gave me an insight into the craft of the homemade advent calendar. Ten years ago, a German friend of mine showed me a perfectly engineered cardboard […]

Cultural Reflections

This gift of diversity

September 19, 2014January 16, 2015 Third Culture Mama

How desperately, do I want to teach our kids to be lovers of this world. Interesting then, when it actually came to inviting the so-called ‘world’ into our home (without us […]

Travel

France & Greece

June 15, 2014November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Returned from Europe. Two kids on jetlag. Ayo 26 mos, Délice 5mos. Tall Mountain leaves for long trip to Asia. Kids use it as an excuse not to sleep at […]

Motherhood

Flying alone w/ 19 month Ayo

October 20, 2013November 24, 2014 Third Culture Mama

This cozy Sunday afternoon found me catching up on Pam’s witty blog about air travel with a toddler over here. I beckoned Tall Mountain to come over and read her […]

Cultural Reflections

This just happened…

October 17, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Hi there, We just returned home by airplane and our tube of SunnyBaby SPF 30 squeezed out into our suitcase. I am wondering how best to wash the lotion out […]

Travel with kids

East Hampton: a maid’s embrace & survival parenting

October 15, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

After filming all week in NYC, the production team moved to East Hampton for the weekend: a wealthy coastal village located on the peninsula east of New York. Ayo and […]

Travel

High Line and Central Park

October 9, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Following more of a “down day” yesterday spent visiting with a family friend in New Jersey, walking around the area and chasing squirrels at a local park, Ayo and I […]

Travel

NYC Chinatown and CMoM

October 7, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

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 […]

Travel

NYC with a toddler?

October 1, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

I love big cities. I love how alive they are, how endless the culinary, cultural, interpersonal experiences can be, how outrageous personalities and clothing are acceptable, how beautiful architecture and […]

Review

Watching people age

August 5, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Last night, we watched the beautiful documentary “56 Up” after having seen “49 Up” a few years ago. In 1964, a group of UK seven year olds with varying social […]

Travel

Cupcakes & hotdogs

July 7, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Today was the first day I have felt like myself again following another gruesome trip over the Atlantic. The airplane didn’t turn back this time, but we missed our connection in […]

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 […]

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