A Generation of Villages: How My Village is the Best Gift I Could Ever Give My Son

After joining the parent club last year, I am humbled with the magnitude of effort it takes to adapt to be the caretaker of a tiny precious life and I feel so lucky to have the best husband, my loving parents, my beautiful sisters, and a special village of friends and family to share this journey with.

This post is my way of expressing how important it is to have a strong community of people in your life to help you navigate through the good times and the bad.

Almost 30 years ago when my parents started their family of tow-headed females, they did something that has been a major pillar in my life. They formed a play group with other local new parents and their young children and all of our lives became richer with best friends and second families. Life has taken us in all different directions, but we still manage to reunite a couple times a year to celebrate each other and our growing pack. After three decades, the parents have become grandparents, the kids have become adults, and our story just continues to get better.

My close friends that I’ve met through school and work are also some of the most important figures in my life and I always cherish the times we get to spend together. The evolution of our friendships have been major influences in my life and welcoming our own babies to our pack is a truly incredible and mind-altering feeling when you still picture yourself as wild and free 18-year-olds.

Being a newbie parent, I have a fresh awareness of how important it is to have a stable support system in your life and I am so thankful that mine has been established and growing for a long time. Learning how to succeed in this world is a lot easier with solid role models to help guide you when you need someone to lean on.

Now that Charlie is eight-months-old, I find so much joy in sharing him with my special people and I love going to our own Seacoast parent groups that I am involved in.

When I feel overwhelmed with parenting struggles, I reach to my friends and family to remind me that I am still Anelia deep down under the heavy mom cloak, and that my feelings are valid and that it will get easier. We all have moments where we want to stop adulting and it is okay to say not today.

If you are a new parent yourself and are looking for ways to connect with other families, I encourage you to explore your local hospital and parks and recreation department websites for family activities. Who doesn’t want to be surrounded by other adults talking about day-to-day joys and concerns and getting reassurance that you are not alone with your baby battles?

Exeter Hospital Schedule of Support Groups

Wentworth Douglas Parent and Childbirth Support Events

Newmarket Rec Department

Music Together

Seacoast Mothers Association

Playdates Meet Up in Portsmouth

Joining the parent club is not easy, and no matter how prepared you think you are for it there will always be struggles. In my short eight months of being a mom, I can confidently say that being surrounded by healthy people who will support and encourage you through the ups and downs are what will make you be the best parent you can be.

And so, this post is for three of the most important figures in my life. My parents, Ted and KelLee and my husband, Joe. Mom and Dad I love you and I am so incredibly grateful for the life you have given me. You two are your own special category of super hero to me and so many others and I hope you know how amazing you both truly are. Joe, you are the Chief of my village and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Thank you for always striving to make me feel like Queen Khaleesi even on days where I feel like a girl with no name.

In my world, it takes a village and my village is hands down the greatest gift I can ever give to my son.