My Village

It takes a village to raise a child is the creed I live by.  It’s more than just parents and grandparents.  It’s more than aunts and uncles.  It’s more than blood.  Sometimes it’s just happenstance that brought you together.  It’s loving children year after year, even though they aren’t yours.  It’s making sure that EVERY kid gets a tshirt.  It’s sending in that extra pack of pencils.  It’s doing the favor just because they need it.  It’s hot meals.  It’s tears and it’s heart ache.  It’s cocktails. It’s long conversations on dark driveways.  It’s laughter and tears and feeling relieved because you’re not the only one.  It’s listening when there is nothing left to say.  It’s loving someone else's child, even when they are as obnoxious as your own.  It’s remembering what they were like before the awkward teen years.  It’s knowing that other moms and other dads are looking out for your kids.  It’s taking the time to scroll through miles of text messages to understand a situation.  It’s knowing your own weaknesses and knowing your own strengths.  It’s asking for help.  It’s offering.  It’s walking them through some of the hardest lessons.  It’s teaching them to lose gracefully.  It’s teaching them how to win humbly.  It’s buying the $6 box of popsicles instead of a $3 box so you can share.  It’s paying it forward whenever you can.  It’s assuming good intent and overlooking bad days.  It’s giving space and but staying close enough to be helpful.  It’s all about   doing what you can when you can and knowing that just because a mom or dad can’t be there, doesn’t mean they don’t want to.  It’s driving carpool, even when it’s not your night.  It’s driving carpool even when it’s not your kid.  It’s coaching.  It’s teaching.  It’s character building.  It’s being invested.  It’s walking the walk.  It’s why we do what we do.  It’s who we do it for.