A Village

We had family in town and staying with us for the two weeks surrounding little J's birthday extravaganza.  Most of the time Seattle for us feels like a family-less island, albeit a lovely, sun-drenched island (long-awaited July induced mania, anyone?).  It was a bit of a shock to the system to have so many family members around.  It was fantastic.  Sure, there were a few hairy moments where I craved some alone time and control over my space.  Sure, we clashed a few times (Yes, the child is able to eat solid food in larger (choking hazard!!) than sesame seed sized pieces (which proved to be very very difficult for him to pick up, despite his expert pincher grasp).  No, we don't think it's normal to use a paper towel every 5 minutes).

For the most part, though, having family as an active part of the rhythm of our lives was wonderful.  And having grandparents around who are all itching to spend 100% of the time with little man really does free a mama up to do certain things that have been lacking this past year... like go to the gym regularly... go on a date with the husband... run out to the store without packing up a million things... carry groceries without a child on the hip...

Now the family members have all retreated to their corners of the country, and the regular frantic pace of our life is back to status quo.    It really does take a village.  Or a village of people you pay to help you (daycare, house cleaning, dog walking, babysitting), in our case.  Don't get me wrong, I love our life here in Seattle.  And I'm aware that living near family isn't all roses and sunshine.  But it would be nice every now and then to have a willing, loving, (free) hand around to pitch in with this whole amazing/all-consuming/exhausting/exhilarating child rearing thing we've got going on.