Who and what makes up your village?

[Mother Goose]

For me a village is more than just people you rely on to help you when you are in a spot of bother

That's a very good point. And I agree. But for me it is a part of the role of a village. And an important one for me because I don't have family here. My nearest relative is 800km away.

I would love to know what people define as the role of the village. I think that itself would be extremely interesting!

[Miss.September]

I would love to know what people define as the role of the village. I think that itself would be extremely interesting!

This is where I struggle. Working out what exactly is the role of the village. Because that would make my answer different. I suspect everyone's ideas of a village would be different and therefore the answers would be so varied. Person A's village might be people they can lean on for babysitting duties. Person B might have a group of friends to go out with that they consider their village.

I've been thinking about this for days now. There's a sign up at a nearby school with the saying "It takes a village to raise a child" that coincided with this thread so it has got me thinking about it. I agree that the village would be ever changing. Different influences coming into my life, different interests would mean seeking out different people throughout numerous stages. Some might stay long term, others not.

I guess I have two halves of a village. First one being family. There are very few people I can say would drop everything for me but I know exactly who they are and I know they will never let me down, regardless of what it's for. And I return that straight back to them. They do not live locally to me but the bonds are strong and it reaches out to DH and our kids too. The friendship side of the village is my second half and I suspect, this will be the bit that always varies. There are those in it that I think will always be there, and others that are passing through. Time will tell. I think it varies due to what I need from them (whether it be a friend, some advice, someone to laugh with) and what they are prepared to give me. Thinking about it further, it's almost like having a short term village (so in essence, the holiday house) and the more longer term village (the family home).

But I'm still thinking about it. A lot of what I just wrote was me thinking aloud. I think my long term thing has been me being self reliant even though there are people who are willing to help. I have to learn who the right ones are though (recently had a very close friend tell me she would love to babysit my kids, gushed over how good they are, how she'd love it....for an hourly rate.)