Just some random thoughts........

[Tygermommanikki]

I found an Old Native American Proverb tonight..It Says

Treat the Earth well: It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children. 

We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, We borrow it from our children..

It's amazing to me how old the proverb's orgins probably are and yet it rings just as true today.

I believe we are here to nurture and cultivate the next generation. I believe the envelope will continually pushed forward as to what is acceptable in society until we as parents take a stand and say enough is enough. I believe that short of verbal, emotional, sexual and physical abuse each family has the right to raise their family as they see fit.

I have seen so many moms post about how they can't stand the belief that it takes a village to raise a child but i have a serious question for them to ponder and reply to.

Unless you give birth to your child by yourself and provide all their education/medical care and are their only source of social interaction how can you deny the fact that a village is helping to raise your child with you as the Chief?

When you give birth most likely there will be a doctor or midwife present. (most of us no longer deliver our neighbors babies but some still may) Our children are then shaped by the people we expose them to. From the doctors we choose to take them to. The schools we place them in (or don't for those homeschoolers). The church, synagogue, or services we participate in, the friends we allow into our hearts into our homes and around our children. The media we allow them to be influenced by. The friends we allow them to keep even simple errand may ultimately contribute to the growth and personality of your child.Your grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, brother, sisters even you other children.

I am not saying we all need to be chiefs I am saying we already have our own villages that we raise our children in and we need to embrace it and structure it as much as we can to benefit our Children best.

I know I have a village with in my husband (he is this family's chief.) my sons (who annoy and love and support each other as no one else can) our animals (who help to foster compassion and placing the needs of another living creature before yourself, who provide unconditional love no matter how many times they get a paw squished by a rouge toy, or the occasional random tail or ear pull). my mother and daddy and mother in law n father in law, my granny n grandpa (RIP), my great grandma in law (RIP), my grandparents in law(they provide love like only grandmas n grandpas can. they also provide love , emotional support and insight on raising children and the mistakes they made to prevent us from repeating them) I have my children's doctor who takes care of the ouchies and boo boo that are just outta my league. I have the teachers who dedicate their day to my children's education. I have the friends I vent to so as to prevent me from being a sad pissed at the world mommy so that when my kids try to make me breakfast and spill half the box of cereal in the kitchen I can see the love in their eyes and the humor in the moment. I have the television shows I choose for them to reinforce friendship and caring and humor. I have the music I allow them to listen to so they have an outlet for their emotion and learn positive ways to express them. I have the homeless people we have encountered who have taught my children a new appreciation for what little they do have. and to reinforce that material possessions do not make the world go round. The lady/man behind me at the cash register who paid the few cents I was short on groceries, clothes what ever it may have been and the lady/man in front of me I have been fortunate enough to pay it forward to.

Our children are like sponges they soak up and obserb EVERY experience we expose them to and they learn from them.

Who is in your village??