Never was it clearer than yesterday that a village approach to raising children makes so much more sense than our culture's current individualized method.

For the last couple of days I have been laid out with flu-like symptoms and yesterday I was on my own with Laurel. I could barely move and the best I could do was lie on the couch or on the floor and feign interest in her books and toys. A brief outing we made to CVS and the bakery in the afternoon left me exhausted and drenched in sweat.

And while I was completely desperate for help and wished that a fellow village member could come relieve me (particularly when Laurel woke up from her nap an hour early), I was fortunate that somehow Laurel got it and cut me a break. She’s not typically a play on her own type of kid but she entertained herself for a lot of the day while I looked after her with one eye open and at one point she even came up to me and said “It’s okay mommy!” and pulled up the blankets around my neck.