It really does take a village

For someone who is about as disconnected with politics as a person can get, I’ve recently come to believe at least one line that has come from the lips of one of our day’s most well-known politicians. As Mrs. Clinton has put it, It Takes a Village, and on this subject I’d have to agree.

Parents need help. And while I’ve seen the evidence to support this fact during my educational career, I’ve felt it in my career as a parent.

It became overwhelmingly apparent to me a few months back when my boys and I took a trip to Red Rock Canyon to visit with a former coworker and friend who we hadn’t seen in quite some time.

While I tried to prepare the boys for what we might see on our picnic, I am self-admittedly, ill-equipped to teach them very much about nature. This, however, is just one of my friend, Ginger’s, many talents.

From slugs to millipedes to colorful dragonflies-I was amazed as I watched my boys interact with and listen to her as she pointed out the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful sights in the canyon. She was able to show them and explain to them about all things natural-things about which I know nothing. And they were soaking it up.

As I drove two sleeping boys home from our outing that day, I came to realize that not only do I sometimes need help being a parent, but my kids also need the kind of help that only others can give. There are many lessons which I can help teach my kids, but there are so many more that I can’t. My children deserve the exposure to and the expertise of all the craftsmen in our “community”.

Simple things, like a baby’s first weekend alone with his grandmother, can bring into perspective what a necessity it is for children to have opportunities to lean on and learn from the wisdom and experience of all those who can positively contribute to their childhood and their understanding of the world in which they live.

Even the most knowledgeable and most experienced parent needs help. Just ask any teenager. I know I don’t possess the wisdom or the expertise in the many areas that it will take to help my children become the best they can be. That is why we have grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends.

There are many reasons to long for the days when all communities were like Mayberry and every family was like the Waltons. Those days are long past, but the lessons they taught us endure. Every kid deserves an Aunt Bea and a Barney Fife looking out for their best interests. And who better to teach the children about life than Grandpa Zeb and Grandma Ester? It really does take a village, and I’m certainly glad to have mine.

And that’s All in a day’s work!