7.01.2011

The Power of Girlfriends

Yesterday after I left work, the girls and I made a quick trip to our town's new splash park to play with my friend B and her daughter, Ella Kate.  Just last week, we had a playdate at her house, so our girls are getting a chance to get to know each other a little better this summer.  After the splash park, our friends came over to share my mom's birthday dinner with us.

As I watched the three girls running around our house, swapping baby dolls and squealing with laughter, I realized yet again how quickly my babies are growing up.  They have friends now, real little friends.  It is quite likely that these friends may be the very same ones they are sharing secrets and passing notes with in the years to come.

Addison & Ella Kate

Among the many things I want for my girls is to know the power and the value of good girlfriends.  When it comes to girlfriends, I am all about quality over quantity.  I have never been someone found in the biggest, most popular group of girls, but I am very lucky to have a small group of girlfriends that I can trust with anything.  They know me--the good, the bad, and the ugly--and they love me and support me anyway.

While our girls played, B and I did what we always do--we gabbed as quickly as we could about life, work, motherhood, and books.  You know, the usual.  But still, just those quick snippets of conversation remind me that someone is going through the same things I am, struggling to balance life in the same way I am.  It's a comfort, isn't it, to know that someone else really gets it?

I think that's one of the reasons blogging is so popular now, because it links us to so many other people who are like us, when it's sometimes so easy to feel like no one could possibly understand.   I feel blessed to have blog friends to enhance my circle of in-real-life friends.

Blog friends, childhood school friends, lifelong companions, or college sorority sisters....I hope my girls are as lucky as I am in the girlfriends department.

Splash park

So tell me...what's your "girlfriend style", a big group or a close-knit circle?  Are most of your current friends from childhood, college, or adult life?  (I have a few of each, and I love that they all know me in different ways!)

8 comments:

  1. I love that 2nd pic - LOVE it.

    Hmm, mine are mainly from adulthood as I was not a girly girl and had "boy" friends (I wrote about the one) at school.

    I have one from university (my other good gf dumped me :() a couple of old companies I worked at and a couple from the infertility journey.

    And of course, you lot :) There are a couple of bloggers who I am determined to meet this year as I also feel we'll connect beautifully!

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  2. I love this post! Isn't it amazing to know that there could be a little girl (or boy) in our kiddos circle that stays with them for the next 50 years? How special it is to hear people talk about having "known" a friend since they were put together in their playpens?

    I have a small handful of wonderful friends...one from college, and the rest from adult life. Sadly, I don't have any really close friends from high school, but that's mostly a function of me having moved away, and not having a "hometown" to visit any more [as my dad moved after I graduated college]. I'm still in touch with several folks from high school via FB, and that's fun, too. Just last night I was looking at pictures one girl posted from Girl Scout Day Camp...held at the same park where we saw each other every summer for the same event. Good times. :)

    I agree with you...life sure is easier when you have a few people who really, truly understand you. And I definitely include some of my bloggy friends in that circle, too! :)

    Hope you and yours have a fantastic long weekend! Happy 4th!

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  3. I have tons of freinds but you are SO right. I have a very small group that I really trust. I think about years down the road who will Ava be best buds with. They are growing up so fast!! Do the girls love the splash pad? I haven't took Ava there yet. I am pressed for time.

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  4. When I was young loose my friends because we moved several times. At this point of my life I don't have friends near me and is very sad because I need it.

    Enjoy your friend and have lots of fun with them.

    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  5. i LOVE that last pic by the fountain. that's perfect. looks like it could be on a "friends" card or something!! :)

    i have a few friends from college, one or two from high school, and have been lucky to become really good friends with my youngest sister who now lives a mile away.

    funny....i'm just feeling like i can get out of the house again. maybe i should have gone on more playdates? i have a feeling that there are some potential "friends" in my MOM group, but the timing just never seems to work out!

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  6. I agree with strongblonde...that picture is definitely frame-worthy!

    I have a bunch of college friends...we're spread out, but see each other one weekend a year for sure.

    I have recently reconnected with a good friend from high school...we ran in different circles for a while, but I still love her.

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  7. I love having a small good group of girlfriends. I see it with our 10yo daughter right now too. She has one best friend and a few other good friends, but it's funny how fiercely she will fight to go see her best friend. She gets very passionate about it.

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  8. Having a twin sister was pretty much all the friends I needed! We were quick to compare our relationships with other girls and found that if we had free time, we'd just rather spend it together! We're still the same way ;)

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