Sticking Our Noses Too Far In

Yesterday, if can believe it, YKW called, and I couldn't believe it. Our phone had been on the blink and for whatever reason stopped ringing. I fiddled around with (i.e., started pushing assorted buttons) and before I knew it, I'd restored the ringer. This is good and bad. On the one hand, it's sort of nice not getting inundated with calls. On the other hand, it's not sort of nice missing certain calls. Either way, no sooner had I fixed the thing and YKW called.

Now for those of you who don't recall the whole YKW saga, I won't bore you with the details, I'll just say that we figured she was no longer interested in our kids as friends. Fair enough, kids should be free to choose their own friends.

The problem with the whole soap opera was that we, being the pathologically overbearing parents that we are, stuck out noses way too far into the whole affair. Kids are kids, and sometimes they can be mean to each other and treat one another poorly. We are all guilty of it, even our own darling angels, and in the end, they need to learn the hard lessons of friendship. We can't meddle in all of their affairs, no matter how hard we try.

While we couldn't help but cringe at seeing our kids being targeted for scorn, it's all a part of growing up, right? Well, we couldn't necessarily see things this way, and during the whole ordeal, decided that if YKW wanted nothing to do with A, then A should stop trying to contact her. The problem was, our daughter couldn't see what was happening, and continued to view YKW as her best friend, even though YKW did everything she could to tell our daughter to take a hike.

Anyway, to make a long story short (too late?), we regretted it. If A forgave YKW for past transgressions, then we should have, as well. We took things too personally, though how could we not? It's not easy seeing your kid being hurt. And even though kids need to learn these things for themselves, parents are there to lend guidance, right?

Whatever. The bright note is, YKW called, and we actually got together and had a playdate. And it was nice. Best of all, our kids were elated to see her again, and it was good seeing her dad, whom I like a lot but it was awkward while we were in the midst of all this drama. For the record, we really like the parents, it's just hard when the kids don't jive.

So we've bridge the gap once again, and are in communication, parents and children alike. Life is good. Who knows what the future will bring, we could very well see history repeat itself, but for now, we'll do our best to keep our noses out of it.

Yeah, right.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Lorenzo González for the pic.