Things I Am Thankful For (part 5)

My Village

I am a part of an online mothering community, and one of the women always talks about how our lives would be so much easier if we lived like people did back in the day, and still do in some places.  Extended families all together, everyone helping to raise everyone else's children, sharing the burdens and joys of child-rearing.  In our culture, motherhood can be a lonely place at times.  I even caution to say that being a stay-at-home-mom is one of the loneliest professions.  I love my children.  LOVE.  But sometimes I just *need* another adult to talk to, to share a coffee (ok, diet soda) with, to complain to about my child's less-than-exemplary behavior, to brag about my child's awesomeness.  And having someone to watch my kids when needed (and who feels comfortable asking the same of me) is an invaluable thing.

I recently read an article in the "Wall Street Journal" by Erica Jong, in which she spoke very negatively about parenting in general (calling it a "prison"), and attachment parenting specifically.  Reading the article made me angry and sick, but also made me realize how lucky I am.  I disagreed with her on pretty much every single point she made (along with the basic premise of the article), but the one part that I did agree with was that she talked of the often-spoken "it takes a village" philosophy.  It really does!

All that above said, I am INCREDIBLY lucky to have been blessed with an amazing village.  Not only do we have family to love and care for us and the girls, but I also have a group of mom-friends that are truly one-of-a-kind.  I wrote about each of them in my post about Mother's Day, which you can read about HERE.  We do have one new pair added to our group ~ Amanda and her son Alex ~ who are equally amazing and awesome and all that :)  She is fantastic for getting tips on "green" cleaning and living, and for learning about loving guidance :D  The only pictures I have of her are from a random playgroup day at our house ~ she is the one with red hair on the right side :)  Unfortunately Alex didn't make it into the picture, though that may or may not be his foot on the far right!

So, THANK YOU to all of my mom-friends.  This journey would be much more lonely, much more difficult, much less enjoyable, were each of you not a part of it.

(If you want to see more pictures of this amazing group, you can see them on Sierra's blog HERE)