When your children grow old enough to go to Elementary school, it is a time when friendships amongst parents are formed. Your son or daughter meets new friends, and you and their parents become friends too. But are all these friendships true friendships, and do they all last?
It does seem to happen in a lot of cases though. You have play dates for your children and their new friend or friends, and often it ends up being a time for the parents to get to know each other over a cup of coffee or something. You and that new parent seem to have alot in common, and the main thing in common is the budding friendship between your children. As your children's friendship grows, many times the adults friendships grow as well.
Lets face it you do see a lot of each other at school functions, at the playground, at soccer, baseball or other sporting events. But is your child's friendship with their child, enough to base a true friendship on, and as those children grow up and go their separate ways (or maybe even stop being friends) does this mean the adult friendship should end too?
I met alot of parents that I thought were my friends, when my children were young, but as it turns out, we didn't have as much in common as I thought, and some of the friendships didn't last. I do have a best friend that I met through my oldest daughters Elementary school years. She had a son the same age as my daughter, and I thinks we have such a great friendship today because there was never any competition between our children, probably because they were opposite sexes. I am grateful for this friendship, and for my friend Lori.
Today I blog because sometimes, many years later you can rekindle a friendship from your children's Elementary school years, with someone who you didn't really get a chance to get to know better when your kids were young. You may have been friendly with that person, and generally liked that person, but due to outside influences, the friendship never got to grow. Today I went for a walk with just such a woman. We realized how much we had in common, and how much alike our home lives were. We got along like we have been friends for a lifetime, and to be honest with you....at 49 years old, I think she and I will be better friends than we would have been in our 20's, because, there are no outside influences keeping us from knowing each other better, our children are grown, there is no competition, and we are two strong, healthy and happy women secure in who we are, we have our own minds and can decide who we want to be friends without other people swaying us one way or another.
As said in one of my earlier blogs, I suffer from depression, and what I've learned from dealing with this malady, is that I need to surround myself with positive people. I don't need to be friends with anyone who is negative energy, and I need friends in my life, that I can be myself with. Friends that I can be open and honest with, and not worry about being judged. So to my friend who I went walking with today, (you know who you are) thank you for calling and asking me to go for a walk today, and thank you for your honesty, and allowing me to be honest as well. Its a great foundation to a friendship, and I look forward to furthering our Elementary School Friendship, almost 20 years later. It is never to late to build positive friendships.
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