Nearly three years into motherhood, and loving every minute of it, my one goal in life is to make unselfish, mature decisions focused around Yana. Admittedly it has taken a year or so to realize that, but my course of action from when i started making this transition, has forced me to be more insightful and aware of my role as my daughter's "earthly" keeper.

Although Yana is her "own" person and quite frankly has already started exhibiting an amazing and unique individualism to her character, am inexhaustibly thinking of ways that myself and her grandparents can encourage activities that positively affect her self-worth.

Be inspired,

M

Mawiyah Kai EL-Jamah Bomani

As I sit in front of my computer, trying to be creative and an inspiration, reminding myself that I am not at my final destination but on life's journey my thoughts turn toward my 13 going on 30 year old son and being a mother.

This weekend as been quite a rocky one, I have been under stress caring for my mother who has dementia, whilst also dealing with the challenging and confrontational behavior of a young man who is still finding his way in 'communicating' the way I want him to (is he developing the differences that we notice in our men already!) but is also unable to express how he feels about not having his mum around as much as he used to.

As I sit in front of my computer, trying to be creative and an inspiration, reminding myself that I am not at my final destination but on life's journey my thoughts turn toward my 13 going on 30 year old son and being a mother.

This weekend as been quite a rocky one, I have been under stress caring for my mother who has dementia, whilst also dealing with the challenging and confrontational behavior of a young man who is still finding his way in 'communicating' the way I want him to (is he developing the differences that we notice in our men already!) but is also unable to express how he feels about not having his mum around as much as he used to.

Peace Sistas! Please take time to view this important video and read the opening by the director. Much Love,
Aremisa

Reducing Infant Mortality from Debby Takikawa on Vimeo.

In search for ways to cut the cost of much needed glasses for my eldest son, I came across this site online. Spread the word.

Sight for Students:

A VSP charity that provides free vision exams and glasses to low-income, uninsured children. The program operates nationally through a network of community partners who identify children in need and VSP network doctors who provide the eyecare services.

http://www.sightforstudents.org/

I experienced the most beautiful moment yesterday and today I am happy to be worn out. I am happy to be worn out cause of LIFE, I am happy to be worn out cause I saw new life beginning. I am happy to be worn out I was in the presence of multiple love. I am happy to be worn out because there was cause and a perfect effect. I have tears, but they are made of joy, I heard and saw pain but it felt so good, to be apart of something that marvelous. We take LIFE for granted and that moment was just a reminder for me to pay attention to my LIFE more closely. That experience was just a reminder to climb those mountains and mole hills. Just a reminder to pick up the pieces and heal from the bull^*t. How much pain can one person endure and which pain would u choose to try again? How can u live and be dead on the inside, floating and moving about with no connection to LIFE and all the wonderful tools it has to offer you. I am worn out worn out, been up all night, outside of the house didn't come in til close to six, needed a shower, couldn't think of eating, cramped a little, the sun almost beat me home all because of pain, love, and LIFE of a new baby girl.

They must be doing it.

I suspect at 4:17 A.M., a few hours after Kris and I have fallen asleep, our daughters, and 7 to 9 of their geographically closest friends, get together somehow, dressed in as many articles of clothing as they can fit, and armed to the nines with markers, crayons and Ziploc bags filled with dirt. Then, the oldest participant, probably dubbed "Keeper", backs out her thermos filled with water, and pours a 1/4 cup water in each Ziploc bag to create the pièce de résistance: MUD.

I'm so excited to introduce my very first guest blogger! She's smart, spunky, full of fire, and just brimming with great stories and valuable insight to share. Oh, and she's one of the two Warrior Girls who chose me and Kris as their guides, so she's pretty spectacular in our book. Lately, both girls have been using Kris' and my phone to "take pictures for their [imaginary] blogs", and Marley is quite a letter-writer/tale-spinner. So it seems only right, to let her have a bit of my sacred space here to share her Light with you. Do enjoy!

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Hi, my name is Marley, and I'm 5 years old. As some of you might know, I'm working on being telepathic. Telepathic means you can read everybody's mind, and I'm working on that. Like one time, I made my dad go to sleep, and then I went into his mind, but I think that was my imagination.

Anyway, this is my very first blog post, but I'm not done with it yet. I want to tell you all about my weekend. First I'm going to talk about the fair, but I'll still have lots of other stuff to talk about.

I've been a mother for over 6yrs now. I remember being a young mom and my family would brush me off and even older moms would question my motherhood. When Mother's Day rolled around I would get all excited... for what? If you weren't celebrating my mom it didn't count. Deep in my soul I wondered "Y" Y do they say what they say & look at me the way they do? My own husband was clueless as to how to appreciate my worth-

It hit home when I recently found out that my mother had to tell my father to respect me by acknowledging that I AM A Woman, is Daughter who happens to be a MOTHER with not one, but 2kids at this point. Not to mention, I'm handling my business- Years later, my husband now goes out of his way to show me how he appreciates me not just Mother Day, everyday.

Peace,
Mecca

Some of my dear sistah's have asked me over the last few months,where have I been and what have I been up to..well here is just one of the many things that I have gotten myself involved with.Last year I decided to finally join the HSLD,which is the Home School Legal Defense Association.I decided to join them not only as a back-up,just in case something was to ever happen ,but mainly as a constant source of information for the ever changing homeschooling laws in my state.As I became more involved with them I started to become more involved in parental rights.Anyway,I think this is something every mother or woman should read............

Had she not been my child, I would've been pumping my fist and hollerin' in support of her decision to stand up for herself!! Unfortunately for her, the pride I felt will remain deep down inside (oh, and in this blog :), lest she "get it twisted". It was really difficult not to laugh out loud and hi-five her, but I held it together, because as far as she is concerned, her mother is kind of crazy, and um, that's completely intentional. From time to time, just in case they forget, I call on my inner Angela Bassett/Sanaa Lathan, and put on my best acting skills via a one-woman show; Why My Mama Crazy?!, starring Akilah S. Richards.

Warm Love Circle Sisters! If you have been following ymib/me on twitter (http://twitter.com/ymib) then you may already know, but, if you have been wondering why the site has slowed down, it is because I am pregnant!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!! I have been DYING to tell you all(especially to get all of your motherly advice for pregnancy!), but I wanted to wait to officially announce the news until my first trimester was pretty much over. I am in my 11th week now and we heard the tiny heartbeat on Friday, and we also have a sonogram at just 6 weeks! I had never had one that early before..there were no eyes and all, but the organs were there and you could see the heart..it was darling! Anyhow, I wanted to let you all know that I am still here, but I have been SO VERY tired. I mean really tired, I have been sleeping a lot, but I hope that my energy will regenerate itself soon...LOL! But when i do not feel like blogging on ymib or jubella, you can usually find ymib twittering!

Peace & Blessings Sisters,
I'm just putting out an inquiry to see if there are any fellow military spouses on ymib.

My husband, a National Guard Soldier, is currently away at training, and has been for about four weeks ... two more weeks to go.

I've been holding down a full-time job and all the responsibilities of two young ones, today my oldest turned five and my youngest is 19 months.

... I'd love to network with you and converse. We share a common bond.

Be Delivered!

Aloha Goddesses,

I had been talking with my beloved this morning about orgasmic childbirth and how beautiful that must be. So, I went on a search for any information that I could find and what really appealed to me was this site http://orgasmicbirth.com/

Take a look and maybe you might want to host a screening of the documentary to bring more awareness to the beauty and the sensuality of childbirth.

Peace and many Blessings Sistahs,
I pray that all is well with each and every one of you. May the Most High bless you and guide you to you.
I am writing this blog because I am a first time mother, ( in this existence) and I have some questions.
I have sought a more natural/traditional lifestyle for me and my daughter. We are both vegan and we tend to follow a more spiritual lifestyle. My daughter is almost fourteen months and is very expressive and observant. I love her very much. My mother feels that I don't do a very good job at disciplining her, but my thing is, I want her to explore. I do not want to be the person responsible for suppressing her inner voice. I believe that if I create a solid foundation for her, her wise spirit will follow. We chose each other for a reason and though I am to nuture and protect her I am not to make her into what I want her to be. I just work at being the best me that I can be to show her how to be her best no matter what.

Yeah ,I know alot of you are saying,no she didn't call that child a prosti-tot.Yes I did!A baby or child in HOE Training!That is exactly what I call these kids who's mammies are training them and or putting this sex suggestive thought's and activities on these children.They are being modeled as little versions of their mothers.Only a hoe or hoe minded female would allow their 2yr.old to engage in such activities.I thought the stilettos for infants was bad enough.I knew this was coming,I just didn't think it would be so soon.To think when I made the comment on stiletto post ,"what's next stripper poles for 2 yr.olds" and here it is.Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it our JOB as parents to keep our daughters off the damm pole period?2 or 20!

Okay this is my one and only my precious son who is two but who is so independent stubborn and determined to be him. The dilemma he's too grown for his own good. Opening the fridge front door running through the yard to granny's and feeding the dog are just a few examples of his many shenanigans. Well he's two and potty training for over 6 months started well and now we're climbing back up the mountain after a very murderous fall. It was going well but he was in daycare and they only want pullups. Then we moved back home to mom's and were commuting so the time and traveling threw all the progress back 500 yards or so. Then he became very adamant that he didn't want to do it. Now I'm SAHM and have been trying in vain to get him fully pottied in underwear only. Success 50/50 most days and 75/25 others. He just learned how to urinate standing he is so excited that he runs to the toilet just to stand up but he forgot how to BM through his excitement. So here we go again more time and patience to achieve Big Boy status by his 3rd bday in June. So send me BLESSINGS on this perilous journey of the Potty.

Woe is me...

I work at a Youth Development Center
A Youth Development Center is a "treatment program" for juveniles adjudicated delinquent
it is a place to house criminals under the age of nineteen
I am a counselor here
I am the person these young men discuss their problems , their fears, their concerns with
it is a junior jail
Most of our students leave here and either very promptly return here or go on to the big boy house as we call actual prison/jail in here

As a mother, this place drains me, frightens me and enlightens me all at once, every day
Most of my students attach to me pretty quickly because I do not cuss them out, or hit them or degrade them
Because those are the methods of "counseling" that are used in here
One of them...an intelligent young man who has an 8year adult sentence to do...calls me "moma"...his own mama is in prison and feels that her motherly duty is to send him sexuallly explicit mail from her cellmate...whom he considers his woman...he is sixteen, she is thirtyfive

This place, makes me hold on to my children more tightly, to watch them more closely and to love them more deeply

I am a first time mother and at times i wonder am i doing everything correct. Everyday there is something new i am learning and i wonder am i on the correct path? I don't have my mother around( i was adopted she has gone on to a better place) to guide me and i feel as though at times i am going the wrong way. I look at my son and say Thank you for choosing me i may mess up at times but i will get it wright one day till then work with mama till then. If anyone out there has any advice on being a mother i will Gladly accept. I will let you all Know how we are doing.

YeYo29

This really is the hardest job in the world. I'm no one's mother... But just babysitting shoves me in to reality. You have to be ready. Focused.... and have a good head on your shoulders. I wonder how people have five and six or sometimes more children. I could never understand what it takes until I get there (that's if I do). It takes discipline and understanding, patience and creativity, nurturing and affection (they aren't one and the same, trust) and most of all the ability to let go.

I say the latter as most of all because I have found that to be the hardest thing for a mother to do. I mean, come on, she's raised you to become the person you are and all of a sudden she has just let you fly free? Yes. That's what life is about and sometimes its harded for her seed to just let go. So it goes both ways.

My earliest memories are lying in your lap and being rocked to sleep
Trying to suck my thumb and you telling me that that would make my teeth look like Bugs Bunny...vanity got me even then...smile...so I stopped

Sleeping with you in our bed in Grandmaw's house, with the big portrait of you that hung over the fire place in our room...looking at that portrait every day and thinking how beautiful you are and praying to look like you

The sweet smell that permeated our room

Of being left at your best friend's mother's house and how long the hours would seem before I saw you again...and how I would cry an cry and cry myself to sleep cause I could not stand or understand being separated from you, your sweet smell and your face

You coming home from work and bringing me half eaten packages of life savers, being jiggled on your lap while you talked on the phone....not really liking it BUT not wanting it to end, cause I wanted to be close to you

Standing up beside you in our red VWbug and you putting your hand out to shield me when the car stopped

This is my Home Management Blog. I am a young homemaker. I have been married since I was 18. One of my main goals in life is to be a wonderful mother, wife and woman. After 5 years of trying to figure out the housewife and home maker thing, I think I have it somewhat figured out.

This poem came off the top of my head . Created 3/23/08

The one, my vessel , Most High's chosen path to breathe
Her wisdom her courage, my orisha praise thee!!

her pain, the wisdom that makes me see. her her profile, her style, her beauty inspires me.

The one
in union with man created me,but in shelter , protection, transition of SOUL came through SHE.

The one
the union, the bond of love that i be.
From breast, in her nest, in peace by land, by air or by sea.

The one my umi, mi madre, mama, ma, mum, mami.
many names she carries all rightfully hers to be

HEAR ME MA SPIRIT, GREAT ANCESTORS I THANK THEE, TIS FROM YOU LIVES SHE, & THROUGH SHE I LIVE IN THEE.

Namaste

This poem was inspired by my mother & my grandmother, who now reigns in the spirit world since March 13 2007....I miss you Mami.

Blessed be.

Nyblaque

This poem came off the top of my head . Created 3/23/08

The one, my vessel , Most High's chosen path to breathe
Her wisdom her courage, my orisha praise thee!!

her pain, the wisdom that makes me see. her her profile, her style, her beauty inspires me.

The one
in union with man created me,but in shelter , protection, transition of SOUL came through SHE.

The one
the union, the bond of love that i be.
From breast, in her nest, in peace by land, by air or by sea.

The one my umi, mi madre, mama, ma, mum, mami.
many names she carries all rightfully hers to be

HEAR ME MA SPIRIT, GREAT ANCESTORS I THANK THEE, TIS FROM YOU LIVES SHE, & THROUGH SHE I LIVE IN THEE.

Namaste

This poem was inspired by my mother & my grandmother, who now reigns in the spirit world since March 13 2007....I miss you Mami.

Blessed be.

Nyblaque

From my bone marrow to my hair follicles

I am Oshun's Child

This colors everything I do

Everything I say

Everything I am

It makes much of my life a mystery to "mainstream" individuals and it allows me to see the daily rituals and mediations in what most simply consider a part of life

 My 15 years of Orisha worship and priesthood work have taught me that in order to truly devote yourself to the Orisha in the Western world you must be willing to turn a deaf ear to that consciously silent but subconsciously ever buzzing overwhelmingly influential inner voice Daniel Quinn called "Mother Culture" in the highly recommended life changing story of Ishmael. "Mother Culture" was Quinn's name for the ways and mores of society that have become so much a part of our psyche that they subconsciously led and guide our actions at all times. Like some cosmic check and balance system, to make sure that we do not stray to far from what our "culture" teaches us is the norm, even in our thoughts

The Rites of Women Pt. 2
By Rev. Dr. Tonya K. Freeman

Rite of Passage: Celebrating the Mother to Be

As a woman awaits the birth of her child, there is a ritual that is practiced in America and it is called a baby shower. It is the closest that we come to celebrating the state of being that a woman is in…the anticipation of the “almost here time.”

There is another ritual that is becoming popular known as the Blessing Way Ceremony in honor of the Navajo Tradition. Some call it a Belly Blessing or Mother Blessing but it came to me as the “One Who Carries Life Within Blessing.” These celebrations usually take place in the latter part of the Oneness. Women who are family members and/or friends come to celebrate the wonders of Motherhood.

When women gather in SiStarhood there is a healing effect that is in place. The bond that is formed in ritual is very strong and lifetime friendships develop.

The celebration is usually planned by female members of the family, close friends or even a woman who facilitates these types of rituals and ceremonies. In fact the Mother to Be can create her own ceremony if she is so moved.

My nine year old son Julius’s confidence is quite remarkable. At 9 he believes he can do anything he sets his mind to. I sometimes sit in awe of the belief he has in himself. If you ask him, he will tell you he thinks he can do everything from fly an airplane to build a spaceship. The truth is most children my son’s age belief in their abilities are truly boundless. Most think they can do anything because they exhibit very little fear and trust themselves completely.