| Hi, Carolyn: I’m a single mom with primary custody. (Dad is in the picture.) My friend is also a single mom, with no family support. We are both unhappy with our living situations, which are not-ideal rentals. There is a weird property up for sale — it’s two full-size houses about three feet apart, down a dirt road, with a great yard and a little river. We have been fantasizing about splitting the cost and each getting one house, and sharing the land, climbing structure for kids, etc. Neither of us could afford a house of this size on our own, but splitting these would be below budget. It sounds like the magic village-style child-raising you dream of. But a lot of friends of mine are cautioning that we might fall out, that it would be a disaster if we started getting on each other’s nerves, and now I’ve got the fear of God about it. Is this a total pipe dream? I’m wondering how to weigh each side of this. Is it better to make decisions based on the potential for it to be awesome, or the potential for it to crash and burn? — Mom Commune | 
