You know what they say: it takes a village to raise a child. And, if you don’t have a village around, then why don’t you invent it?
Mom friends Holly Harper and Herrin Hopper have always joked about buying a house in Vermont, living there with the children, and allowing their husbands to visit them once in a while.
What at first was a joke, ended up becoming a reality of sorts.
When they both got divorced, they started considering the option of moving in together, especially with all the uncertainty that the pandemic brought about.
“Holly and I said, ‘Why not do this?’” Hopper told TODAY. “Within a weekend we found this house.”
As Harper explained, it was hard for her to handle all the changes in her life. She had just gotten divorced, she was turning 40, and to make things worse, her father passed away in early 2020. That’s when she literally felt helpless.
“Just like my life was burned to the ground,” she shared. “I could turn to Herrin and say, ‘I literally have nothing left. Let’s just do this.’”
Once the women moved into the new Maryland house with their children, they decided to offer the basement for rent, and that’s how another single mom, Leandra, joined them.
And then, Herrin and Holly’s friend, Jen, moved in with them. And their house was complete.
“There is almost a spiritual safety net every day here,” Hopper told TODAY. “I could be my worst self, I could be my best self, and they see me for who I am, and it’s OK.”
The women have lots of things to take care of, but they never feel overwhelmed because there are people around them willing to listen and help.
At the same time, each of them also has the freedom to go out without the kids, because there is always someone in the building to take care of them. And this is amazing and really relieving.
For the kids, also, the arrangement they have made is beneficial because they have other kids to play with.
“There’s always someone to play a game with,” Harper said. “It’s just the most fun.”
Indeed, the children almost feel like they’re cousins by now. And this is so beautiful on so many levels.
As for how they organize their life together? Well, they meet up on a regular basis and discuss issues like roof repair and yard work expenses, usually over a glass of champagne.
They have even given a name to their house. It’s the “Siren House.”
“Siren is a form of sort of feminist power, right?” Hopper said. “We’re building a community, we sort of have the siren song so we bring people together.”
Indeed, they have brought people together, and they’re planning on bringing even more by expanding the concept of their co-housing arrangement to other moms out there.