Parenting With a Broken leg-Parenting in General- Use Extended Family

My daughter has 14-month-old twin siblings. She works for the SCAN Foundation at a job that take her to Washington DC frequently. Her husband has a demanding job administering the 3500 kids in the LA Jr Guards program  part of the LA Lifeguards, the largest Lifeguard service in the world.

Where does extended family come in? My son in law Dan just broke his leg. My husband Pete had been in LA down taking care of their twin siblings along with help from their part time nanny since July.

With the broken leg of this week, Pete will have to have a longer stay to care for our twin sibling’s grandsons and help Dan and Kali.

They will have aide. To the rescue will come extended family including me, several aunts from both side of the Murphy/ Peterson family and even teenage cousins, who are all coming down next week.

Added this is Dan’s Dad who took him to the doctor after the break, drove him home after the operation and brought dinner for everyone last night and took him to work today, broken leg and all- on crutches.

The moral is —it takes a village, as Hillary Clinton said. Raising siblings, kids, twins, multiples takes asking for help from extended family, which includes friends, aunts uncles, grandparent’ great grandparents. neighbors and godparents.

They can help with this heavy parent life, by picking up after school, shuttling to activities, driving to doctors appointments, running garage sales, home repair, broken legs and dinner for exhausted parents . You name it – you need them.

My first husband is at my older daughter’s home right now building a new fence, replacing doors, and helping with kids as she recently got divorced and needs his support. He builds film sets and so can do really fine carpentry.

I have said involve Dad’s more but my message here is also involve granddad’s more too- they are terrific.

Extended family can blow up like an air mattress. They can come in a crisis, like my son- in laws broken leg and my daughter’s divorce – take over or just help with tasks, and then deflate and fly back home.

You say – I have no close family- then ask friends or neighbors, people in your church, folks in any group you are in, like a twins group. Raising children, multiple siblings twins and multiples (like triplets or more) – takes that Hillary Clinton Village, whether you like Hillary Clinton or not-

Ask and ye shall receive- if you don’t ask- well you might be there with a broken legged husband and 14 month old twins ( who can both walk- fast on four chubby legs )

http://youtu.be/cJ-Yaja0pmo