It Takes A Villiage

It takes a village to raise a child.

I've heard that saying a lot but I never knew how true it was until I became a parent.  Sure you can try to do it all on your own but it's much more stressful and demanding.  And who wants that?  

For all you future parents, new parents, or anyone looking to assemble a village, here are the types of people you need:

Friends without Kids - This seems obvious but once the baby arrives you lose free time.  When you lose free time, you forget to make time for your friends.  When you forget to make time for your friends, you lose friends.  When you don't have friends, you don't have anyone to talk to in your stage of life.  Keep and develop friendships so that you can maintain a sense of normalcy. 

Friends with Kids - Make an effort to develop friendships with parents that have children around the same age as yours.  This way you can discuss the different developmental stages such as teething, poop consistency, diaper rash, baby food, breastfeeding, and all sorts of stuff that you can't talk about with your normal friends.

  

Family - Parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.  Any and all of your family members are a part of your story.  As you bring this new "character" into your story, it is important for them to get to know the other characters. 

Mentors (Parenting) - Hopefully you have seen great parents that can serve as role models.  Make an effort to watch these people, ask them questions, pick their brains, ask for advice, etc.  Like anything, if you want to get better at a skill (parenting is a skill) then you must study, learn, seek, practice, and seek coaching from people with superior wisdom or skills.  

Mentors (Work) - You will also want to have a mentor couple that work in the same occupational fields as you and your spouse.  These folks can tell you the challenges, the dos and don'ts about being a parent and a banker, teacher, realtor, etc.  

Medical Professional - There are a lot of minor, yet freaky things that happen in regards to your child's health.  Because your child can't verbally communicate, there are so many times when you wonder "Is this bad enough for me to take him/her to the doctor?"  Some people take their kids too much.  Others might wait too long.  So for all of the in between, it's great to have a friend or family member in the medical profession that can answer all of your minor questions.  We have taken pictures or given detailed descriptions of what is happening and we get slight reassurance as to our next step.  Again this is not for primary care, but for all of the things that happen after 5pm or on the weekends.

Financial Planner - If you haven't already, its time to start thinking about life insurance, college savings, car savings, and developing a will.  Many people don't like talking about these things and these same people wish they would have when the time comes.  There are many people and places that will help you develop your financial future.  I use State Farm.  Feel free to contact them here and ask for Shawn.

These are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.  There are more and as your children get older your village will grow larger and change some.  Who have I left out?  Who do you have in your village?