How My Parents Taught Me to Have a Village

​Lauren Barrett

​Because it truly does take a village in parenthood

Before I even became a parent, I had always heard that it takes a village. Then, I became one, and that saying rings truer than ever.

I often see memes on social media with proclamations from tired parents, “Where is this village they were talking about?”

I see “parent influencers” drone on about not having a village, so they created their social media platform to make an online village for exhausted and lonely parents.

Yet, there is something deeply lacking in these sentiments. Sure, social media can be great for helping parents feel as if they aren’t alone in their parenting journey.

The relatable content makes me laugh and let out a sigh, “Okay, other people’s kids are doing that, too. Phew.”

And I have found some wonderful advice on the internet from other parents.

But this isn’t the so-called village everyone is talking about.

The village is there for you both, near and far.

The village sends you all the supplies you could ever need when you get a call saying that the baby you are adopting is here, and you have to leave now to go meet him. The village shows up with meals, cards, and a shoulder to lean on when your mom unexpectedly dies much too soon.

How did I get my village? I got it from my mom and dad. We had the best village growing up. These people would still be there for me in a second if I asked or didn’t, for that matter.

I vowed to have a village for my kids when the time came.
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Here’s what they taught me about having a village.

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L​auren Barrett is a multi-passionate mom working to help all people become their best selves and build positive relationships with the people around them. She has a degree in deaf education and a Master’s in Reading Education. She is a high school teacher of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing, a former cross country coach, a writer/author, and a full time mom to an amazing 6-year old and 5-month old. Lauren is a 3x author, including children’s book,Henry’s Hiccups, and parenting guide Now What? Mindful Checklists for Life’s Hard Parenting Moments. She is a blogger at Lauren Barrett Writes. Currently, she is grieving her loving mom’s unexpected death and devoting her time to helping people learn about grief, insomnia, and anxiety in honor of her mom. She loves her faith, running, visiting MLB stadiums with her husband, chocolate, scrapbooking, pretending she would actually do well on the Amazing Race, re-watching The Office, listening to Bobby Bones, and helping out all moms. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, James, and son, Henry. Follow her on her blog and get her free kind for sleep and anxiety, Stress Free Sleep.