Have a parent village? I want to interview you!
It takes just two to three other families to radically change how parenting feels.
You’re not parenting wrong. You’re just parenting alone.
That’s the line that resonated with tens of thousands of exhausted parents who read my work here — and it’s the thesis of the book 🎉 I’m writing now.
Here’s one of my core ideas: you don’t need a whole village. You just need two to three other families to change how parenting feels. These families aren’t necessarily your closest friends –– they’re the ones you’ve built a rhythm with, so that parenting just feels easier.
I’m looking for parents living some version of this — with at least one kid between 4 and 12 — to interview for the book. Maybe it’s a standing monthly dinner where the bar is frozen pizza and a movie for the kids. Maybe it’s a carpool that grew into a friendship. Perhaps you have a full-blown care swap with a group text (dads included!) with a great chat name. Maybe you’re not there yet but can feel yourself building toward it.
I especially want the small, specific moments that brought you closer: the instant you realized that parent at pickup was about to become your person; the hack that unlocked hosting for you; the ordinary logistics that, over time, turned into something that felt like family.
If this sounds like you (or something you’re building toward), I’d love 45 minutes for a Zoom conversation in the next few weeks. If this sounds like someone you know, please share this with them!
(People tend to find these interviews surprisingly meaningful. Turns out talking about how we build community makes you realize that it’s one of the most radical things you can do.)
Start here –– it takes under 2 minutes: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexSwtTAmJfBxdS8jRoGk6OPIMEHVIoSXBefPr1kFmV5Kx54g/viewform
-Chloe
Wow — I'm blown away by how many of you responded to this call for interviews. I can't wait to talk to each and every one of you, and to learn from you! This response makes me more confident than ever: there's a movement building. It's possible to rebuild our communities — it just takes a few key changes, and a willingness to put connection back at the top of the list.
I have to say your post on the parent village has massively changed things for me, so thank you! I have a 2 year old so am not a candidate for your book interview. We live in a flat with a communal garden and - with our daughter at home full time - parenting has felt like a huge energetic draw. But since reading your post, we’ve been out in the communal garden most days (of course helped by summer) and our neighbours (not ‘friends’ as you say but our rhythms work) bring their nearly three year old out and our daughters play together for hours. The parents can read books & chat but mainly it provides the opportunity for us to switch our brains into more of a maintenance mode rather than having them in 4th gear all day. It’s kind like of like a yoga or meditation class for our energy. A time to recoup some so that we can finish out the day with something left in the tank. I’m realising now how important this community is, and how much it’s missing from our modern parenting culture. We’re about to move to a place in a new area with its own garden, and so I’m already thinking about how I can foster a similar setup. It’s also been something that has supported our decision to keep our daughter at home full time. It provides that peer environment but in the cocoon of her home and family.