I love my little town and I feel a passion for living in a purposeful way to connect with my neighbors, friends, and loved ones. I want to know my neighbors' favorite dinners, their dogs' names, and their birthdays. I want to encourage them, wave at them, cook for them, and help them have happier days. As soon as someone moves into a house I can see from my front or back porch, I develop an automatic affection for them. They become "my people."
But, I'm learning as time goes on that being a good neighbor is sort of...weird.
And the last thing I want is for my neighbors to call me the "weird lady in the yellow house."
When we first moved into this neighborhood, we had an automatic connection with two other families. We were all homeschooling, stay at home moms. Our kids were all around the same age, and they played together for hours a day, and since the children were so young and needed adult supervision, we three moms usually had many hours of summer chit chat in a day.
Now a days, those neighbors live in different houses, and my status as a homeschooling mom has changed. Most of the houses around me have new occupants, and I'm not even sure I really know some of my neighbors names. And while I'm still at home, I'm a working mom, spending 10 hours a day caring for other people's children and the rest of the day caring for mine (oh, and writing at naptime!). Physically getting outside of my home with two toddlers and a baby takes work and planning, and everyone else has work and plans too. Life is hard. Being a good neighbor is tough.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is...I wish being friendly didn't seem so foreign in our culture. I wish that being kind and inviting someone into your home didn't seem like such a risk.
But, I'm a pretty brave girl, and I don't mind taking risks. So, in a few weeks, I'm going to take a big one---I'm having a block party! I tried it once, and it went okay. I'm attempting again, and I hope that it will be awesome! (I'm an optimist, what can I say?!) So, my dear readers...I need input...If your neighbors were having a block party, what would you want there? Any ideas, suggestion, and input are welcome and valued! I just want to be a blessing to those we live around!
Best of luck my friend! I guess I would want it to be a simple, no pressure kind of event. I think the main ingredient will be Y-O-U! Have a blast!
ReplyDeleteSarah, I love how hard you're trying to unify our little neighborhood.
ReplyDeletePlease realize that Matt and I work a lot of odd hours (especially me, and especially during fair weather months). So if you do plan a block party, we'll do our darndest to participate, but sometimes work gets in the way. :)