The old African (?) proverb, "It takes a villiage to raise a child" has been on my mind lately. It's been on my mind because in modern society, we don't live as family units with multiple generations in one household as often anymore. But like many ancient societies, we do live in neighborhoods, among friends, and in communication with those we love. Charles and I are extremely lucky to have all of these things in our lives.
This post is to honor our local "villiage," who have come together and helped us through these amazing first two months of parenthood.
Meals: Organized by the grand master herself, my wonderful friend Stephanie, we have had one to two visitors a week bring us a meal for dinner. Some people brought us pizza, some brought us a bag of groceries, some made homemade apple pies and ice cream, some brought us deli meats and deli salads, some brought us beans, rice, and chicken (enough to feed five people), some brought us homemade quiches and stuffed shells and meatloaf (delicious!), some gave us a gift certificate to Whole Foods!, some brought us homemade casseroles, some brought us fresh salads from Whole Foods, some made homemade chicken noodle soup and salads and chocolate chip cookies (yum!), some brought us fresh fish and salad and roasted veggies (mmmmm...), and some brought us homemade fava bean raviolis.....(oh my gosh...we are spoiled!)
I can't say how wondeful a treat it has been to have all of these wonderful people visit our home, see our children and warm our bellies with the gift of their food. And not only the gift of their food, but the gift of time so that we don't have to make the dinner or spend time cleaning up. Instead, we can have a little bit of extra time to learn this thing called Parenthood. Thank you to everyone (especially Stephanie for organizing it and always making extra for me!). Truly, it has been amazing!
Time: When Charles went back to work two weeks ago, there would begin to be days where I would be completely on my own with the girls. However, I was lucky enough to have visitors on everyday he was gone to help me in case I needed just time to sit and eat, or take a shower.
My mom came to visit the first 48 hour-shift Charles was gone and helped with the chores around the house, made me meals, and attended to the babies. She even woke up in the middle of the night a few times to hold a fussy baby who didn't need to eat. Thanks mom!
My brother Matt came to visit one Saturday Charles was at work, and he helped me take a much needed excursion to Target. Not only did I have a few things on my list, but it was good to get out of the house. Matt pushed the baby stroller while I concentrated on the list to make sure I could get out of there before the next feeding approached. And boy did Matt get some wonderful attention; lots of old ladies stopped him to google at "his adorable girls!" Matt was a proud uncle and quickly told them so. It was super cute!
Amazing Ms. Stephanie has been the champion watch dog for when Charles is out. She pops in multiple times in a week, between volleyball and basketball, work meetings, parties, plays, visitors, dinners and oh, yeah she works full-time! She comes in like a little Tasmanian devil, putting away the laundry, washing the pots and pans, and then scooting me into the kitchen to eat the dinner treat she brought from her family dinner. Mother extraordinaire herself, Stephanie gives lots of love to her "cooky bunnies!," changes their diapers and then blows out again onto her next adventure. Love to you!
Communication with the outside world: Stacey Posey, my wonderful sidekick at school, checks in with me regularly as well, giving me updates on the classroom, dropping by things I need and cards the kids have made for me. She rocks the girls if they are fussy and changes diapers ("it's like riding a bike!"). Good friends Monica and Erica get me out for walks at the park and are patient when it takes me like two hours to get ready (another post on that later)! Monica gives me tips on parenting and ideas for things to do with kids in Napa, and Erica helps me with cooking, baking, and gardening ideas around the home. Thanks ladies!
Visitors: We have had lots of wonderful visitors so thank you to all of you who have taken the time to come by and see the girls and hang with us for a bit. We have a wonderful "villiage!"
2 comments:
How very wonderful! Such good friends..good people. Your family members near and far thank them for their great gifts of love and kindness.
What a difference it could make to have that!
That is fantastic. I am your village from Texas praying for you constantly that the girls stay healthy and grow!!!
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