I didn't grow up in a neighborhood surrounded by close neighbors with kids my age. I grew up outside of Marshfield on acres of land and a driveway about 1/4 mile long. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE how and where I grew up; my memories are imprinted with long days of playing house or "deer farm" outside with my sister, taking care of 3 different litters of puppies, finding baby mice underneath the tires around our trees, climbing those very same trees, running around our pond, raising and releasing ducks into that pond, finding old shacks in our woods, and countless other adventures that young kids who grow up "in the country" typically can recall. I didn't feel like I was missing out on having neighbors, since I got enough of social interaction at school, church, and dance class. 

But as a parent now who lives in a beautiful neighborhood in River Falls, WI surrounded by soon-to-be a half dozen kids who are my children's age, I count my blessings all the time. Not only do my kids have playmates that they have grown up next to, will go to school with and do extracurricular activities with, but we love their parents too. We are all in similar stages of life, we would take care of eachother's kids in a heartbeat if needed, we can simply walk over to eachother's house if we need to borrow something or get out of the house for a minute.....we are a village. 

I love my village. We don't all come from the same places, backgrounds, and upbringings; we don't all have the same professions, tastes in music, shows, or movies, outlooks on life, etc.....but we are all raising our kids in the best ways we can and doing it together. There is something so special about that. I appreciate and care about every single one of the members of this village that somehow was brought together (thank you Universe). 

And I can't wait to see these kids grow up, join sports or music together, get in trouble, fight with each other, teach one another things, disagree, stand up for each other, and become individuals. I hope they stay close. I hope my village always stays close. ❤️