Hmmm

Well I don't know what else to tell you about our Pennsylvania idyll... except that it's a little bit disturbing that this 'village' I'm always talking about wanting to create with other people here in Austin so that we can raise our children and live our lives with a little more peace and ease and community IS ALREADY THERE ALL SET UP in Matt's hometown and why we don't live there I'm not really sure. Totally loving, fun grandparents who totally accept children for who they are... living on a quiet street where my kids can easily run from house to house to play with friends, and into the woods even to play in the creek... half a block to the school, a playground, and even a thrift store...! And it seems like everyone is so kind and respectful to children there, and playful too, and when you pick up the cute little bi-monthly newsletter there's at least a half dozen little ads in the back for cute little fourteen year old mother's helpers and stuff like that. And did I mention how Grandma and Gramps have this big basement with all the seventies-era Fisher Price toys and other assorted toys and games and puzzles squirreled away after 5 kids grew up in that house... so our kids can just disappear down their for hours or at least until fun Uncle Mike drops by to play frisbee and tag and chase with them out on the lawn...?
I don't know why I find this disheartening... I mean, mainly I don't and mainly I'm just enchanted and thrilled that I married into this fantastic in-law situation... but it does seem disheartening because we probably won't move to Pennsylvania, because we're insane, and because that level of support and freedom just feels SO healthy for the kids, and of course for us parents, and it really shouldn't or wouldn't be that hard to achieve if society weren't kind of ill and confused about what's really important in life...
Well, glum outlook aside, I do have a great circle of friends and acquaintances who all have strong intentions to make some changes so raising children and living life can be more bearable, satisfying, easy, and just a lot more FUN with a lot less of the bitter, stressful, rageful, stretched-to-the-limit-and-beyond parts that make it such a hard row to hoe, sometimes. We'll all just keep chipping away at this, keep working to find and create our village, and if we can do it even halfway then maybe our kids will be able to do it the whole way and our grand kids will have it pretty good, I think.