Now that our great white north has finally transformed itself into a lush green wonderland, we are reacquainting our family with our neighbors.

In our effort to raise caring kids and a stronger world, we also aim to strengthen our community at its most local level. Our neighborhood offers a remarkable opportunity for human connections. Where else can such a mishmash of people drawn together from different faiths, backgrounds, and political parties get to see first-hand how fundamentally the same we really are.

Throughout the winter we do little more than wave at one another through frosty car windows. Now, finally, the kids have time to reunite over freshly dug worms and all-age bike races while we adults swap harrowing stories of cabin fever and fairy tales of beach vacations (executed or imagined).

These days, it takes more effort than ever to get to know the neighbors, especially those without kids or pets that drag them to their front yards. All of our schedules are packed, our jobs are demanding, and left to our own devices, we might all wait for National Night Out in August (if that) to connect with one another.

Why wait? This Sunday is May Day, a holiday our family has celebrated since the girls were very little. The roots of this holiday are a little fuzzy for me, but the idea of May baskets is so appealing that we manage to assemble them every year.  Each of our nearby neighbors (11 homes), whether we know them well or not, whether they have kids that play with mine or not, will receive a basket that includes the following:

• A few of our favorite cookies (we make a double batch of snicker-doodles and dole them out generously)
• Something to plant (last year it was sunflower seeds, this year – herbs)
• Something just for fun (this year a pinwheel, thank you Target dollar section)
• Something from the kids (last year we wrote a poem together, this year they want to do special drawings for everyone).

The best part, of course, is the anonymous door bell ring. The girls plant the gift-laden basket or gift bag or kid-decorated lunch bag on the doorstep, ring the doorbell, and then race desperately to hide behind the nearest bush.

Once the goodies are claimed, we get the chance to visit with our neighbors, many of whom literally come by to borrow sugar from time to time, but some of whom are generally strangers most of the year.

If you need more convincing, get inspired by this public radio conversation. Getting to Know Your Neighbors: Worth the Effort spotlights an interview with Peter Lovenheim, author of In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time. While Lovenheim’s methods are a little more aggressive than my Minnesota sensibilities can sustain (sleepovers, really?), his appraisal of familiar neighbors sounds exactly right.

Knowing those who live around us not only provides us with a rich  culture of human connections and potential dog-sitters, it keeps us safer. It makes our communities stronger. And it teaches our children about living in community beginning with the one right out their own front door.

Tags: Big Ideas, Building Community, Craft

About Sarah

Sarah Aadland is striving to make family volunteering a meaningful habit for her family of five. Join the conversation as she ponders what they may (or may not have) learned and looks for helpful information about raising compassionate kids.Though she plans to one day put her Masters in Public Policy back to work for social justice, she sees family volunteering as a way to build a stronger community, a better world, and a more connected family. In addition to her children, Sarah tends a large garden, a small flock of chickens, and a habit of mindfulness amid the necessary rituals of parenting.

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