Many of us are familiar with the saying that ” It takes a village to raise a child ” As Moms and Grandmas have become more and more involved in the “outside the home work place”, it seems that this is true today more than ever. We need each other.
The “blog world” is an exciting way to enlarge our village and tap into each others’ hidden streams of wisdom, concerns, and ideas. To be able to share with each other even though our time to communicate is so fragmented is a marvel to me. ( Of course, my son introduced me to it )
The focus of this blog will be to find each other and to help each other meet the ongoing challenges of how to manage our lifestyles, and love and nurture our families, while wearing the smile of a calm well balanced mind!
Whether you are a parent, grandparent, guardian, home based childcare provider, or a millennium super-person who is juggling nearly all of these titles while running a business or two at the same time, this is a place to share what works, what doesn’t and what we wish would.
One of my many concerns is the effects of constant chaos on our children. I would love to hear how you feel about this and any ways you may have found to combat it. I would also love to know other issues you feel challenged by or have overcome. Let the blogging begin!!!!
Pam Baker
The Village Not-Idiot
Congratulations, Mom! I’m so proud of you for launching this blog. I think your opening post here defines beautifully why you’re joining the blogosphere and I can’t wait to see where you are going to go with it!
Do we really want the “village” helping raise our children? If you look at society as a whole, its seems that the “village” is doing a poor job at this point in time. Do you think its the other way around? Are the children raising the village????…….
Smooch Smooch~Freakout
NVC
Pam! I know that this site is so needed in order to facilitate communication on an aspect of our society that is in desperate need of the best and highest help we can give: the children! Derek Loux said that in fulfilling the Biblical mandate to “help widows and orphans in their afflictions” that widows are all women living without the covering of a husband in the home and orphans are Biblically defined as children living in a fatherless home. We have much work to do in fulfilling our Christian duty to insure that children once again grow up in homes where both a man and a woman’s roles are fulfilled as defined by Biblical standards and principles.
Good post, mom. Most people today have lost the true meaning of “family”, and are more focused on careers than raising their children. Not that having a full-time career is bad…but you really need to take available time and spend it with your family. It’ll benefit everyone in the end.
Your youngest,
E.S.B.
Pam, I know what you mean. With my sister and brother-in-law both working full time it takes all of us stepping in to help out with picking up my nephew and getting him where he needs to be. We juggle between two babysitters and me pickig him up twice a week, and back and forth with my mom stepping in sometimes. It’s always helpful to have a core of people you can depend on and glean knowledge and wisdom from. This Blogspot should be a welcome tool for many.
Thanks for including me. I would love to network with other families, moms, empty nesters, etc. Like my sister said, it is tremendously helpful to have a core of people who can depend on & support each other. My mother & sister have been great, but I’d love to broaden the scope. I often think how nice it was if were all geographically closer (like in the same neighborhood or within a 10 minute drive of each other instead of 25 min.)…you know that “village” feel. I really liked your opening post.
I believe it is really important that the family find time together in this fast-paced world. Community plays a huge role in our lives. Whether it be in the family unit or in our close friend relationships. There is a strengthening that takes place when we live in a close vulnerable community together. Our children need to know the value of intimacy with a father and mother. This can only be experienced if the father or mother or both slow down to take the time to hear the heart of their children and share the deep thoughts that lie within them with their children. Having vulnerable relationship in a family causes a natural flow of intimacy, belonging and trust that cannot be found any other way. There is so much noise that each of us encounter on a daily basis that we have to make a conscious effort to silence that noise and find the place of rest and peace, even making a creative effort to establish that atmosphere in our homes. With life, atmosphere is everything. And kids need a good atmosphere to live in where they can grow up healthy and fulfilled in their hearts.
Just checking in, Pam to see if there were any updates or additions. I did forward your link to several I i thought might be interested, but I don’t see any updates here yet. Do you have an e-mail address that is up and running now? Maybe you can give it to me, when I pick up Joshua.
HI PAM,
I WANT TO CONGRATULATE YOU.. HAVING THREE SONS AND YOUR WORKS!!!
I AM A RETIRED TEACHER AND HAVE TWO DAUGHTERS, ATTENDING UNIVERSITIES. ELDEST ONE IS IN ITALY NOW FOR HER PhD. HOPE TO HEAR YOUR NEWS SOON. GREETINGS,
Not sure I want the village raising my children either, but we would need to clearly define “the village.” For me personally, the village includes my husband and me and of course my mom and two trusted friends. I am a full-time teacher, mom and part-time writer, so I appreciate all the help I get from the people I know who love my boys and have their best interest in mind all the time. My husband and I have raised our boys, 10 and 13, quite differently than some of our friends and even family. For instance, we travel together, go out to events together, participate in all school activities together, eat together…everything together. Our sons are expected to be responsible, knowledgeable and honest men when they grow up, so from the moment they were born we began our work. Above all else, there is love in my home… a lot of love. We would do anything for eachother…anything to make the other person happy. My boys, I pray, will have the smarts to make good decisions, resonable ones and though the outside world may pull them to lead thoughtless or reckless lives, I believe they will have a very sound foundation to know which road to take. I pray they will take “the one less traveled by” …because it will make… “all the difference.” Robert Frost
Although for some parents, this doing everything together, may sound distasteful, for us it is a joy. Those little league games,the hiking and fishing trips, the movies, the bowling or the trips to the library are all…priceless. Yes, my husband and I have given up some, not all, of that me time, but my God the us time feels so much better than that me time.
Just my thoughts.
Some people are actually arguing right now about this at the forum!
I am not clear if I totally understand the full thought pattern behind this.