28. Make Friends with People in a Different Stage of Life Than You
*This post is inspired by my weekend plans. I'm off to Ladies' Retreat with my church, where I'll be hanging out with women of all ages. I've scheduled my posts to continue while I'm gone, so you shouldn't miss out on the last few days of Write 31!*
I have an amazing group of girlfriends who got married and had babies around the same time I did. We get together often for playdates and to bounce ideas off each other about discipline and picky eating and stay-at-home-mom-dom. I'm so thankful for them and their friendship. Having other mom-friends is vital to making it through these years of parenting young kids.
But I'm also very grateful for my friends who are in different stages of life than me. For me, it was a little bit built in with my sisters. Niki is 9 years older than me and Libby is 6 years younger, so none of us were ever really in the same stage at the same time.
I was 8 when Niki got married. Libby was 14 when I got married. Niki's youngest kid was 10 when my first baby was born. Libby is just starting her career and doesn't seem in a hurry to have kids anytime soon (despite my begging for my kids to have cousins semi-close to their age!).
I've also gotten to know some of Niki's same-age friends pretty well in the past few years. And my mom is honestly one of my best friends too. My mom, Niki, and I all hang out with Jill - who is between Niki and my mom age-wise.
Having friends without young kids is good for my perspective. When my mom-friends and I hang out, we like to commiserate about our parenting challenges. We end up thinking this is the hardest thing we've ever done, and assure each other that it has to get better as the kids get older, right . . .?
But having friends with teenagers reminds me that there's a whole new host of problems ahead. Haha. It reminds me to enjoy the incessant touching and clamoring for my attention. Because soon that will be replaced with distance and a desire for privacy.
Having friends with grown kids is a priceless source for parenting wisdom.
Having friends without kids reminds me that life does go on without kids, and I need to make an effort to maintain a strong friendship with my husband and have a few hobbies that aren't kid-centric.
And hopefully I bring something to our friendships as well. Whether it's a cautionary tale (don't go into student loan debt like I did!) or advice about pregnancy/birth/newborns (get the epidural!), I hope I can bring as much to a friendship as I get from it!
To see more from my Write 31 Days series, click the image below:
I have an amazing group of girlfriends who got married and had babies around the same time I did. We get together often for playdates and to bounce ideas off each other about discipline and picky eating and stay-at-home-mom-dom. I'm so thankful for them and their friendship. Having other mom-friends is vital to making it through these years of parenting young kids.
But I'm also very grateful for my friends who are in different stages of life than me. For me, it was a little bit built in with my sisters. Niki is 9 years older than me and Libby is 6 years younger, so none of us were ever really in the same stage at the same time.
I was 8 when Niki got married. Libby was 14 when I got married. Niki's youngest kid was 10 when my first baby was born. Libby is just starting her career and doesn't seem in a hurry to have kids anytime soon (despite my begging for my kids to have cousins semi-close to their age!).
I've also gotten to know some of Niki's same-age friends pretty well in the past few years. And my mom is honestly one of my best friends too. My mom, Niki, and I all hang out with Jill - who is between Niki and my mom age-wise.
Having friends without young kids is good for my perspective. When my mom-friends and I hang out, we like to commiserate about our parenting challenges. We end up thinking this is the hardest thing we've ever done, and assure each other that it has to get better as the kids get older, right . . .?
But having friends with teenagers reminds me that there's a whole new host of problems ahead. Haha. It reminds me to enjoy the incessant touching and clamoring for my attention. Because soon that will be replaced with distance and a desire for privacy.
Having friends with grown kids is a priceless source for parenting wisdom.
Having friends without kids reminds me that life does go on without kids, and I need to make an effort to maintain a strong friendship with my husband and have a few hobbies that aren't kid-centric.
And hopefully I bring something to our friendships as well. Whether it's a cautionary tale (don't go into student loan debt like I did!) or advice about pregnancy/birth/newborns (get the epidural!), I hope I can bring as much to a friendship as I get from it!
To see more from my Write 31 Days series, click the image below:
I'm heading off on a church women's retreat this weekend too - so fun! I hope you have a good time.
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