“It takes a village” isn’t a saying for nothing. Moms have brought kids to Earth with the support of their villages of tens of thousands of years, and there’s no great reason why we should abandon that premise entirely in 2024 and beyond. At the same time motherhood does look remarkably different than it did back then, so we’re here to help you design and curate your community today — whatever it looks like.
Identify Strengths
The first step is to identify the strengths of the folks in your circle.
- Does someone make an incredible home cooked meal?
- Who’s always jumping around and across town?
- Is there someone you constantly turn to for a shoulder to lean on?
- Does a specific person have the gift of gab and can chat about anything?
- Who makes you feel especially good about yourself?
- Does a specific friend love the same TV as you?
These are the people you want to think about as being a part of your circle. You’re not going to be comfortable leaning on everyone for everything, and that’s the idea!
Pair Up Strengths and Needs
Think about what you’re most in need of right now.
- Do you feel like some companionship would lift the mood?
- Have you been feeling especially sluggish?
- Maybe you need some inspiration on what to be feeding yourself and the family with?
Pair the folks in your last list with the needs that are top of mind for you. When doing this exercise, perfection is really the enemy here. Your needs will evolve over time and how people can and want to show up for you will to. The most important thing is to take the step to try to lean on people, and we promise, they will surprise you!
Tweak As You Go
As your needs evolve, and as you get into the habit of receiving support from your community, new things will surely emerge. Bring an experimental mindset to the process to find the right balance of tasks and people that work for you in this chapter of life.
Think Outside the Box
Often times people think of their “village” as their closest friends and family. Your village is really the people that enable your life — think: neighbors, coworkers, teachers, other parents, the list goes on.
Relationships are often built spontaneously through common ground or a shared need, and you would be surprised how many people would be thrilled to help you out when it also presents an opportunity to get to know you better.
TIP: Think back to the folks who were most excited when you were pregnant or announced you’d be having a child. Think about how you can integrate them into your village, as chances are, they already have a connection to you and would be thrilled to support you!
Use Apps
Mevi offers an all-in-one solution to figure out what your pressing needs are and to assign them to your village so that they can help. Skip the back and forth text messages and mental load of coordinating it all, and offload to Mevi’s all-in-one task management app today!
