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The research is clear: since the beginning of womankind, mothering has been a communal effort.
Mothers of the Village offers practical ideas on how to build meaningful and satisfying connections to create the essential community all mothers need.
List of contents
PART I - The Problem
Chapter 1 - My Story
Chapter 2 - It Turned Out It Wasn’t Just Me: Anger and Guilt
- Embrace Truth Telling
- Perfect Madness: The Anger
- The Guilt
Chapter 3 - Some Reasons Why We Are Feeling Unsupported
- Some Effects of Affluence
- Eroding Family and Community Ties
Chapter 4 - Attachment Villages
- Examples of Community from the Past and Around the World
- Modern examples of community working
PART II - Where Do We Go From Here
Chapter 5 - Now What?
Chapter 6 - Understand and Appreciate our Interdependence
Chapter 7 - Embrace Our Strengths and Commonalities as Women
Chapter 8 - Seek Out and Create Places to Connect
Chapter 9 - Develop our Inner Mystics
Chapter 10 - Befriend Grandmothers, Older Girls, and Aunties
Chapter 11 - Accept Help
Chapter 12 - Strengthen Our Emotional Health
Chapter 13 -Identify the Enemies of Our Village
Chapter 14 Embrace Diversity
Chapter 15 - Serve our Fellow Moms
Chapter 16 - Weave Our Lives Together with Other Women
- Why?
- Couples Book Group
- Music Night
- Date Night Party
- Connecting and Cooking
- When Working Outside the Home
- Taking Turns With Family
- There Is A World of People Out There
About the author
C.J. Schneider lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband, three sweet children, a wild imagination, and a distaste for all things laundry. Though she had many adventures before motherhood—exploring and working in Asia, Europe, and Africa—her greatest and most challenging venture has been discovering the wonder of family and building a village of friends and fellow moms.
Summary
The research is clear: since the beginning of womankind, mothering has been a communal effort.Mothers of the Village offers practical ideas on how to build meaningful and satisfying connections to create the essential community all mothers need.
Additional text
"I loved reading this phenomenal exploration of an essential, deeply satisfying, yet often missing part of many mothers' experiences: a close-knit community. Bringing to light this missing piece we all desperately want yet rarely talk about, this is a must-read for any mother."
—Melissa Puente, Emmy Award–winning editor, filmmaker, and mother of four
"We are the mothers of the 21st century. We are smeared with organic almond butter and grape cough syrup and tears. We are equipped with every baby invention from toilet locks to breast pumps to video monitors. And yet, with every expensive accessory we acquire our disappointment deepens that this doesn't get any easier. Because what we cannot buy or rent or invent is a community. We cannot buy the personal connections and safety nets that save from our own despair and exhaustion. Schneider offers a credible and comforting voice to all mothers wondering if they are alone in this struggle. Pointing to distressing research from around the world, Schneider beckons mothers to re-examine the importance of their roles and the societal and personal consequences of women who feel disconnected from other women. Hers is a reassurance that we can once again find ways to rely on one another and gain a communal strength none of us possess alone. With honesty so brutal you will laugh through the tears, she relates her own voyage of motherhood, as well as stories from mothers in multiple countries. Mothers of the Village reminds us that we were never designed to do this alone and calls to all women to stop trying to fly through motherhood solo."
—Regina Sirois, 2012 Young Adult Fiction ABNA Winner, and author of On Little Wings
