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Jessica Secrest explains the "childcare swap."

"It takes a village to raise a child" is an African proverb commonly attributed to the Igbo and Yoruba tribes of Nigeria. The phrase encapsulates the worldview that child-rearing is the responsibility of an entire community, not just a singular family unit.

The phrase became popular in Western culture after Hillary Clinton's 1996 book, "It Takes a Village," which argued for a societal approach to children's welfare.

A viral TikTok video by Jessica Secrest from Grand Rapids, Michigan, has many thinking that she's the perfect example of what “It takes a village" means. She and her friend and fellow mom, Emily, have an arrangement where they watch each other's kids so they can have a date night with their husbands.

“It’s childcare swap night, which means that I’m at my friend Emily’s house,” she explained to the camera. “I fed her kids dinner, put them to bed, and now I’m waiting for her and her husband to get home from their date. And I told them stay out as late as possible please, because last time they didn’t. We made them reservations at a tiki bar downtown and then they’re going to the movies.”

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