Mommy (mummy?) blogging across the pond

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A few days ago, Susanna of A Modern Mother was lamenting the state of "mummyblogging," or parenting-blogging in the United Kingdom:

So, the other day at coffee, I brought up my mummy blog. I might as well been speaking Slovenian. Non capiche.

This was at my British mums coffee morning, which is on Fridays, as
opposed to my Tuesday American mums coffee morning, where we spend most
of the time talking about how frigging cold we are.

What’s a mummy blog?” asked one of the mums, a particularly chummy friend of mine who loves veg patches as much as I do.

“It’s a place where mums can share info, write about their
experiences, make new friends, stay sane," I said as enthusiastically
as I could, but the look on her face said it all. “Why?” was oozing out
of her.

Now remember, I live in the heart of the Thames Valley, the tech
capital of the UK. Many of these mums either have worked in the IT
industry, or have husbands who work in IT industry.

They don’t know what a blog is, not to mention RSS.

Her post got me thinking -- surely there are tons of parenting bloggers who don't reside in North America.  I began scanning my RSS feed, ready to send Susanna an email with an eloquent "Nuh-UH!" argument of why she clearly hadn't kept up with the parenting blogosphere, an e-mail full of scads of non-American/Canadian links (including, of course, UK bloggers) that I had teeming in my GoogleReader account. 

You know where this is going, right?

I couldn't do it.  While I do follow several bloggers who aren't in the US or Canada,  very few of them are parents.  This seemed wrong to me: after all, when I lived in my native Trinidad, I was a non-American/Canadian mommyblogger!  Furthermore, I'm married to a Brit!  How could I turn my back on my international sistren?!

And so,  as a public service announcement for the day, I thought I'd introduce you to some noteable mommy (mummy?) bloggers from across the pond.  And if you are a non-North-American blogger who blogs on your life as a parent or parenting issues, please leave your links in the comments section, below.  I'm always looking for great new reads.

So without further ado:

I am, and have been, a long-time fan of Irene Nam.  A Korean-French woman living in the City of Lights, Irene shares her beautiful words and images at Momster; in addition, she recently launched a new blog, petit Paris, chronicling her life in Paris with her two young twin boys.  Her sites are always a delight.

In addition, be sure to check out Italian Trivia, a blog written by Jennifer, describing her life Italy with her Italian husband and two sons (one of them a mere 2 weeks old!).  Her mom is coming to stay with her for Christmas, and she writes about how she includes all sorts of Italian-American traditions in her preparations.  Be sure to check her out.

A new find, courtesy of Amy Sharp, is Emma Bradshaw -- a very crafty blogger located in the UK (Wales, perhaps?).  I'm loving her December series, The Green Christmas Guide, including her tips on how to make the holiday season just a little more Earth-friendly.  I'll definitely be adding her to my feed reader.

Also, it would be totally remiss of me if I didn't mention Put Your Flair On -- another Paris-based blogger, Aimee, who not only shares her life with her husband Julien and their young son, Max, but also runs quite possibly the cutest tea house in Paris.  The next time I'm in town, I'm definitely going.

And finally, be sure to check out Susanna's list of the Best of British Mummybloggers -- sure to provide tons more great reads.

* * * * * * *

On another unrelated (yet equally international) note, yesterday I received an e-mail from one of my fellow BlogHers with news of a clothing drive being organized by J.P. O'Neill, an American soldier basied in Fallujah, Iraq.  He's collecting gently-used clothing for the children of Fallujah, particularly warm clothes for the winter.  If your kids have warm clothing that they've outgrown, perhaps you would consider sending them his way?  The following is the address:

2nd Lt. O'Neill J.P. 2992

1/4 Company C Fourth Platoon

Unit