The Village People

I got an email from a good friend the other day. Along with offering encouragement for an approaching appointment, she mentioned reading my blog. She wrote that, "Sometimes I read your blog, and I think, "Oh yeah. I could do that. Why am I not doing that?"" Her words really made me realize why it is I blog and why I post activity ideas for parents to do with their toddlers and other kiddos.

As a parent, I often get consumed with day to day chores, tend to fall back on tried and true activities "Want to play trains?" or just plain forget some of the fun projects I used to do with students when I taught. As a teacher, I had time to ponder new activities, browse through idea books, or find inspiration in a peer. Often you'll see that my activities are just an idea I saw on another blog or an activity inspired by something I read. I post these ideas because I know we all run dry on the creative juices. It is my hope that just seeing a post may inspire someone to try something new. I'm lucky to know many fantastic and creative parents and even some yet-to-be parents (check out my blogrolls) and I'm blessed to be a part of their community.

In education we called this idea sharing "Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)" or simply collaboration. I believe that parents can and should collaborate too. Instead of struggling to stay afloat by ourselves, we can share each others' burden. By sharing activities, fun places to go, or just providing a nonjudgmental ear for listening to a fellow parent's struggles, we can make this challenging job of parenting, a group effort.

Reading blogs, meeting for coffee, or hanging out at the park begins to resemble the village effort of old. Though our villages are scattered, the goal remains the same: to grow smart, happy, and well-loved children into responsible, creative, and compassionate citizens of the world.