Babywearing community – where the friendships start…
Many years ago John Donne wrote that ‘no man is an island’. And – no family should be an island too. In the past, parents and a baby were not left to their own – there was a different understanding of the family: many generations lived together, helping each other; people lived for a very long time in one place too – so their contact with neighbours was much stronger than it is now. Nowadays, the small ‘family unit’ (parent(s) and a child or children) lives alone, changes places many times, and has to cope with everything by itself. It may be hard and frustrating, and – especially a first-time – parent can feel left alone. It’s great when you can find advice around you, next to your door, but if (for many reasons) it’s impossible – don’t worry, there’re many parents who can help you through the internet and give support. This is the magic of the babywearing community.
A passion that unites…
It all starts when you want to buy a wrap or a carrier. You make a search for the facts such as price, qualitie, ways of wearing and not only do you find information but also discover a large community of babywearing people – from all over the world: they can live close to you; in another part of your country or even on the other continent. If you decide to join the babywearing community – you can find friends not only for the babywearing period of life…
There are many ways to meet babywearing parents: join babywearing groups on Facebook or forums dedicated to this subject. If you live in a bigger city or close to it, you have even more options to meet babywearing parents personaly. There’re surely many events that you can attend: courses (some of them are free, some – not), fairs and the most important – meetings, organized frequently or spontaneously. During such meetings you can try different wraps and carries and what is the most important: talk to other people sharing the similar hierarchy of values.
Chatting about wraps, carriers, blends, and carries – it’s a perfect start to a longer relationship. Even – online only (however, many ‘babywearing’ relationships started online and ended during a meeting in the real life). People get to know each other and want to share more parts of their lives; there are groups ‘chatting about everything in life’, which started in babywearing groups. You can ask about almost everything there: new shoes, choice of the school, curing infections and so on. Share your joys and failures; news about family troubles or being pregnant. And you can do it all day round.
Benefits
Joining the babywearing community is not a waste of time. There are many psychological benefits. The major of them is that you don’t feel left alone – you’re a part oft he community where you can ask for an advice (not only babywearing related) or help; share different points of view and resolve doubts. In this light, it’s a kind of a continuation of a traditional (family- and location-based) community.
You can make friends for the whole life too. Many parents can tell stories about friendship that started in a babywearing group and lasted long: it makes a very strong bond between people. They can tell you about hours spent on chatting, support in difficult moments, the joy of meeting in real life; surprise birthday parites or Christmas gifts and so on. In modern life, relations between people are sometimes undervalued – but they make us who we are.