Austin’s full of students. Austin’s full of film-makers, game-designers, the technology-adept of all kinds. Austin’s full of Democrats. Of Libertarians. And the artsy. And the craftsy. Of non-conventional households configured in every possible way. Austin’s a magnet for those from elsewhere considering pulling up stakes and trying their luck somewhere new.

And Austin’s full of the kids of all these people. The female parental units new to town catch the word soon: check in at Austin Mama. Maybe they hear it at the wading pool at Stacy Park. Maybe they see someone wearing a “What Would Mama Do?” tee-shirt at Ruta Maya. Or they notice a bumper sticker at Wheatsville Co-op and wait to see who’s going to get into that Scion.

Austin Mama is home to one of the liveliest listservs around and hosts some of the very best writing, too, not just in this town but nationally. Life refracted through the prism of parenthood and described with candor and humor just jumps off the screen.

As the cost of living in Austin climbs and climbs, family life isn’t always as easy as it used to be. But there continue to be new Austinites born every day, to grow up cradled in Austin’s maverick traditions. Austin Mama is one of those Villages as in “it takes a” and Austin would not be the same without it.