Parenting and Friendship

Parenthood, one of natures joys of life. Watching your children grow into who they will be and beating yourself up over little things that you wish you would have done differently and even all the times that make parenting worth every heartbreaking second. That is not the only thing that you think about. When you become a parent, no matter what age, keeping and making friends becomes increasingly difficult. Planning parties, dinners and general outings becomes a montage of hysteria and planning. You worry constantly about what your friends might be thinking and stressing yourself out wondering why these little humans can't just behave for 10 minutes.

As we get older our friend list gets smaller by the day, not entirely because we have chosen to have a family but because as an adult we have work and a family to tend to as well. Events for the kids, time with the husband or wife and hobbies take up so much time that sometimes you forget about gatherings or the thought of them makes you tired because of all the planning that has to go into it.

Everyone needs friends, its part of human nature. It is better to have one or two really good friends that you can share anything with than to have a bunch that will use what you tell them against you and judge you.

Friendship is important, we all know that. With parenting come adulthood and all the problems that come along with it. Why does it seem to be so difficult to make and keep friends? Is it because we are so set in our ways or is it because we learn that there are that many more people who do not share our belief systems when it comes to raising a family?

Maybe you still have friends from high school and maybe you don't but either way when you enter the workforce you make new friends. More times that not you and that person lose touch over time or realize that your personalities really do not mesh the way you thought they did. One thing is for sure though your prerogative for making friends is different, especially after starting a family. How many times have you taken your kids on a play date only to discover you do not agree with their behavior or the parents handling of the behavior? It can be really difficult to keep a friendship with someone when you don't agree with the way they do things.

That brings a whole new light to how we chose our friends. It is important to have friends, its therapeutic and a good release for those days that you need to vent. When you do make close friends take the time to have dinner once a month with them or have them over and vise versa. Chances are they are not bothered by your children as much as you thing they are.

Parenting styles along with many other things have changed so drastically that when you have another child over they do not respectfully get your attention and sometimes thank you is never heard. Change is not always a bad thing but during our times of change we should not give up our values and beliefs on parenting along with it. The phrase " If it is not broken, don't try to fix it" applies her i believe because why do it differently if it works? We have lost something along the way and it is time to bring it back.