I have to say, I’m concerned. I have not really felt to concerned with Covid, personally anyways, but as I speak to people around me, I hear their worry and their concerns. Especially families with younger children. They worry about the effects long term with children. There are many different changes that have to happen and that will come and that will have to be considered.
I have always been a huge believer and fan of Community. The saying “It takes a village to raise a child” has never been more true. Times, they are a changin! I see and feel this shift coming and it’s not necessarily a bad one, but one that must be embraced and we need to see some “thought leaders” come forward. My eyes have been open to some challenges and I’m sure every city and town have their own set but I wanted to share some thoughts around this today.
I heard a group of parents mentioning that their children that normally go to a Dayhome in a community, and the Dayhome Provider walks them to the bus back and forth, which is right outside the home. Now she is going to have to walk them much further as the schoolbus will only stop at certain stops now because of Covid. This of course is much more challenging for the Dayhome provider and for the children. I’ve also spoke to parents of children that are quite introverted and will be attending school for the first time this fall. As she spoke to me about her concerns she broke into tears. This worry, this fear is so real in our world today, and I am feeling more concerned, but I also feel hopeful.
You know, back in the days, when I was a child and even way, way further back, people in Community came together to help each other out. I know in my community in Calgary, where I was born, the neighborhood was your family, everyone knew each other. When the kids played on the streets till the sun went down in the summer, people knew all of those children and kept their eyes on each others children. When people went away they simply went next door, dropped of a key and never had to worry. Community at it’s finest.
We must go back to these times again. The solutions are there for sure! For example, the situation with the Dayhome. There must be some “safe” stay at home moms, grandmother’s or even Dad’s that are at home due to covid or simply choice. Maybe, just maybe, they also would be open to having one or two adults in the community, Volunteer at certain times to help with the pick up and drop off at the bus now? I think we went so far south in the past with not trusting our neighbors and not getting to know them like I remember knowing mine back in the day. Maybe we need to have a similar structure to a day where “tribes” traveled together and set up villages with a Medicine man, Medicine woman?
Are there people that live on your street that you trust? Someone that is not gone 12 hours a day to work? I think if we can start to identify people in our neighborhood, know them, and start to go back to the “Neighbourhood Watch” days where houses that were deemed safe, were identified and people started coming out of their houses and out of their fear to help each other during this very difficult time, we actually might all shift the way our world is now and shift into a wonderful time of knowing our neighbors and having more connection with one another. Imagine becoming a self-sustaining community? It is something to think about for sure.
Leave a Reply