You had me at FREE.

Let’s get one thing straight: if you’re a parent and you say you don’t love free stuff, I’m gonna assume one of three things - you’re lying, you’re a millionaire, or you’re so deep in toddler chaos you didn’t hear the question.

For the rest of us? Free is not just a price tag - it’s a lifeline.

People love to romanticize the whole “it takes a village” thing.

Sounds nice. Warm. Wholesome. Like there’s this magical group of reliable adults who show up with casseroles and gentle wisdom - just waiting to co-raise your kid.

(Let's maybe come back to reality?)

My “village” looks a little different.

It’s a stranger from a Facebook 'MomGroup' who leaves a box of diapers on her porch with a photo and a “Take what you need" hashtag. It's the woman who dropped off three garbage bags of mismatched toddler clothes that smell vaguely like cats and cinnamon - but you dig through them practically singing like it’s Christmas morning. It's the "friend-of-a-friend" who DM's you at 10:42 pm to say “hey, do you still need a stroller? It’s yours if you can come get it tonight.”

That. That’s the damn village. No casseroles. No coordinated group chats. Just exhausted caregivers giving fellow exhausted caregivers whatever they can spare - and honestly, it’s beautiful in a completely unfiltered (and admittedly sometimes slightly sketchy) way.

People think “free” means junk. Well I mean okay it kind of does... BUT in parenting life?? Free also means I might finally get five minutes of peace because my kid is mesmerized by the talking dinosaur toy someone else's toddler just donated to the cause. It means I didn’t have to drop another $42 on a sleep sack that’s gonna be soiled in three hours anyway. It means someone out there just gets it - and they’re trying to make this whole survival gig just a little less brutal for someone else.

I don’t have a live-in nanny. Or a giant extended family that shows up. Or "insta-worthy" 20 best friends with kids the exact ages as mine, and with rhyming names. Or even a clean and organized house for crying out loud. What I do have is a parking lot exchange scheduled tonight at 8:45 with a woman named Kelsey, and she's giving me her kiddo's old train set. I’m bringing her a coffee and a bag of outgrown 2T jammies to swap. We’ve never met. We might never again. And still - it’s community. It's my village. It's enough.

So yeah. You had me at “free.” Because free means I’m not doing this alone.

xoxo

Madi