The strength of my community was realized as we prepared for Phoebe's birth. Friends brought by bags of hand-me-down clothes, signed up to bring by meals after the birth, and invited Finn over for play dates after she arrived. We had many wonderful gifts sent from afar, and both my mom and Todd's mom flew out to help with the early weeks of a new baby, but it was so nice to have friends here, in Portland, to offer support when we most needed it. Without our community, we would have had to buy more baby items, we would have ordered a LOT more take-out, and we would have been a lot more stressed out and isolated.
Having a community has been so important to us both in terms of our well being and our environmental impact. Having friends who can loan you items, pass along used goods, and trade service (like childcare) helps stimulate a lifestyle where money becomes less important and where the need to purchase new items is reduced. Individuals with different skills can help one another out and things can be bartered for instead of paid for. How cool is that!? When Todd and I got married, I really wanted to have a wedding where my friends all pitched in and helped do parts of the wedding for us. One of our best friends married us, another designed and printed our invitations, and me and my mom made all of the desserts. That was a far cry from having friends do everything, as we still hired a florist, a photographer, and several other professionals, but if I would have been more organized, I think it could have been done.
As many people move away from their families to start families of their own, it is so important for us to find a support system wherever we are to help with things that the extended family used to help with. The old saying is true.... it really DOES take a village to raise a child. I am so thankful for the friends that I have, both in Portland and spread around the world, for all of the love and support that they have given me. Pin It Now!
Zac and I have found the same thing to be so true! We very much agree with the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. So very true! I have 2 close girlfriends here and we don't do hand me downs as much as we do "pass arounds." Between the 3 of us we have 9 kids. One passes down boy clothes to my Logan. Then I pass it to our other girlfriend's boy. Then I get them back for Kian. We have NEVER bought our kids any clothes. I like it that way. We also trade around that bulky baby gear no one wants to hold on to after baby's too big for it. We trade fabric scraps and buy sewing books/supplies together to share instead of us each buying the same items. And on and on. Today my friend and I were saying that so much is passed between our houses, we forget where it all started....and we like it that way. Great blog post. Thank you.
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