MaggieC wrote:The neighbors did a "whip around" that means that they started a telephone chain and called everyone they knew to take the children on a temporary basis. My mother and father took in two of the children. My aunt took in another and so on.
I don't recall my parents or my aunt or any of the neighbors making much of this, they did what neighbors did to help each other without any government interferance.
Maggie,
This is where "It takes a Village to raise a child" came into play.
My grandmother and mother would tell me stories of a German immigrant family that lived up the road from them. Everyday at 5pm the kids from that household were expected to be in the house and sitting at the table for dinner. NO EXCEPTIONS. When they werent, the father would go paddle in hand to the area where all the kids played. Every kid he caught got a swat, whether it was his kid or not.
I asked my grandmother if parents freaked out and went on a vengence for this man swatting their kids. She replied HECK NO!!! The reason why? Dinner at 5 with the family was expected of all the families in those days, and those parents would be out there doing the same thing, and Mr X was actually doing them a favor.
No one ever called the cops, these were all good families of doctors, lawyers and polticians in the neighborhood. It was never an issue. Everyone watched out for each other and each others families.
When we were growing up, whenever there was an issue much like the death in the family as you mentioned, all of our neighbors banded together and took care of the other families needs, taking care of kids, bringing food dishes, mowing lawns, taking care of pets ect. There were many elderly people in the area that families would take turns bringing them food, cleaning their homes ect. (My sister and I cleaned the home of a 90 year old woman for YEARS on a weekly basis) and no money or anything of monetary value was ever taken for these services. When my parents were building our house in the 70's, EVERYONE on the street showed up to help without ever accepting a payment.
The person that turned me into CPS for leaving my kids home alone, was the same neighbor that while my husband was in Iraq and my youngest son had to go to the hospital for emergency O2 treatments "didnt really want to' watch my older kids so I could go to the ER with my son, and even stated that she didnt really feel like watching just the house so the kids could keep sleeping. BUT before that when she was pregnant she begged neighbors to watch her kids, clean her house ect in which I was one of the people that would always help her. Go figure.
Now Billary turned that saying around to mean "It takes a government to raise a child" and foolish people have bought into it hook line and sinker and recently wanted this communist as president. She might not have gotten the nomination this time around, but its next time that worries me.
What is even scarier is the change in attitude of society to think that not helping out neighbors and friends is the way to go. What a selfish country we live in!