Looking In All The Wrong Places

R and I have been talking a lot about my neurotic quest to secure lasting friendships for our kids, and her take on it was like this-you simply cannot force friendships, kids will gravitate to whom they click with, so with this in mind, rather than go crazy dealing with irritating situations where people feel like they're always doing me a favor (and as a consequence, never get back to you), it's best to let your kids naturally and organically find their own friends. The best way to do this, of course, is to give them plenty of enriching experiences and they'll make friends on their own. At the very least they'll have plenty of enriching experiences.

The root of all this is how the door to a supposed friendship has been closed, and unfortunately it was a case of putting all of our eggs in one basket. Live and learn. I'm still not sure what is at the root of it all, but my best guess is that the other end just got bored and tired of our end. That's what kids do, but it still stings a little, and I think the whole situation has not been dealt with in the best manner.

One clue that it wasn't the parents (meaning R and I) is that they are at least talking to us, and at 4th of July celebration even offered to help me, unsolicited. My thinking is that if it was something we the parents did, they would either never acknowledge us or even try to kick my ass. He's a real man.

So with that out as a possibility, it boils down to the kids. I know every parent sees their kids with rose colored glasses, but I really don't think ours did anything mean to the other side. Again, I just think the other side lost interest and didn't want to play anymore. It all started with our phone calls not being returned, and then the awkward reality that we now live in.

What I find the least tolerable is that when the kids encounter each other, A is still thrilled to pieces but C won't even look at her. Ouch! What did she do to deserve that?

Anyway, we have to live with this, and we can't take it too personally because kids will be kids. So we'll move on.

And seek out lots of enriching experiences. Boy, this is not unlike breaking up from a relationship. Maybe it's good practice for the teen years.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.