Friends

Once you are a parent, having friends is a little more challenging. First of all, you tend to be friends with other parents. Usually other parents of your kids' friends. This is the best case scenario. However, a very important component to this is how the other parents parent. It is very hard to be around other parents during a playdate when their parenting style does not match up with mine. Not to say that my parenting is the way to go, but I cannot be around a mom that does not discipline. A mom that lets her child run wild. A mom that lets her child speak rudely to her. A mom that will not correct her child when he/she says rude things to MY child. I do not think anyone can understand this fully until they have a child of their own and realize how important it is to be around families that have similar discipline and expectations for their children.

I have had to back off getting together with some friends because I realize it is not good for me to be around them and their kids. Also, it is not good for MY kiddos to be around children that are raised like that. It leads them to believe that that type of behavior is acceptable. NO! Not quite. It seems like a tough challenge for them for me to say, " You cannot act like your friend because you will get in trouble, even though he/she won't."

This may be why I only have 2-3 close friends. It is just too hard.