It Takes a Village

When you were a youth did you roam the neighborhood? Did you have to be home by dinner? Did you know the people that lived near you? Most of us did, but times have changed. It's no longer "safe" to let our children explore without our watchful eyes. Electronics have replaced rocks being thrown in a pond. Kids are not walking to school, but rather driven, even if only a few blocks. Our kids don't know our neighbors. 

While the reasoning behind this shift in "safety" for our children is understood, it doesn't make it any less of a shame that their freedom to explore stops at our property lines. This is what I love about co-housing. Intentional communities create a safe place where kids can explore within their community.

It takes a village to raise a child.

The proverb is from Igbo and Yoruba regions of Nigeria and the basic meaning is that raising a child is a communal effort. It is to be taken to mean that the responsibility lies not only with the parents, but also with the extended family and in some cases the community.

I look forward to seeing the Millworks community develop into the village. The children within this community are not only going to have loving homes with wonderful parents, but friends and neighbors that will also have a lasting, positive, impact on their development.The parents should feel safe to open the doors and let them all run wild with creative abandon knowing that there is a community behind them to catch them if they fall.