My Inspiration!

         Welcome to "It takes a Village..."! I wanted to take a moment to explain why I started this blog. When I was starting out on the journey of parenthood, I thought the best plan was to figure things out for myself, learn as I went, and take no advice from anyone. It was a lonely, hard road. Although I have learned that each parent has to figure out what is best for their own children, and not every child is the same, I have also learned that trying to reinvent the wheel wasn't necessary. I try to talk to moms that seem to have it all together and I pick their brain, watch what they do, and try it out for myself. My biggest inspiration is a woman from my church who has 9 wonderful children. Yes, 9! The most amazing part isn't how many children she has, it is how well-behaved, well-rounded, and kind they are. I visit with her family as often as possible and I take notes.
        The first trick I learned from her a few years ago was how she dealt with the kids getting rambunctious in the house. She never yelled or got upset. She simply sent the kids outside to jump on the trampoline for 5 minutes. She spoke kindly and with a smile. That was it. By the time they came back inside, they were a little less loud and a lot more still!
      The second trick, I saw and am still working on, was that as each child came up to talk to her, she would stop what she was doing and pay full attention to them. Even if the story they were sharing seemed of little importance to me, she would make it seem like it was the most interesting story to her. I noticed that after she would do this, the child needed less attention because they really had her undivided attention when they needed it most.
     I learn something every time I visit her.
     So, I have a Facebook page called "The Whole Village". It is a place to post parenting questions, ideas, and information. I am hoping to build this blog around that page, as I see what topics are being discussed most. I am also hoping to have several guest bloggers to share their own ideas and stories. So any advice is welcome!