Today I sat at church with my husband, next to our friends, with the oldest daughter of each couple in the middle. As I was sitting there I had to ponder what a tremendous blessing it is to be doing life with others in the same stage of life. I was thinking about how old our kids have to be before they’re old enough to go sit with their friends’ families. Then eventually they will just sit with their friends.
As I was pondering that, I recognized that my kids have a gift. Because of our friendships, they have built-in friendships.
My husband and I spend a lot of time with friends who have kids the same age as our kids. I don’t remember that being the case when I was a kid. I do remember one couple that my parents spent a fair amount of time with, whose kids were the same ages as my siblings and I. Overall though, I don’t remember spending copious amounts of time with kids who were my friends because our parents were friends.
Now, I’ve recognized before what a blessing it is for me personally to have friends to do life with.
There have been times in my life that I have been very lonely and with few friends. However, despite the fact that stay-at-home moms are known for feeling lonely without adult interaction, that has not been my experience at all. My friends and I chat for hours, go to the store together, and take turns babysitting for each other. Help is always just a phone call away when there’s an emergency. We bring each other meals and take kids overnight when when needed. Let me tell you, that is a HUGE help. But it wasn’t until today that I recognized the influence those friendships have on my children.
As a kid I was always a little intimidated by my friends’ parents. It’s not that they were scary–I was just horribly shy and was nervous around adults, especially if I didn’t know them very well. I don’t know that my kids will ever experience that in their young lives. My friends are basically like extended family to my children. And our kids are doing life together just as my friends and I are doing life together. I’m hoping that creates a lifetime of strong friendships for my kids.
So today I thank my friends for the treasure they are to me AND to my kiddos.
Friends are the best. I hope that you have a group of friends that you do life with, and that your kids can also do life together. If you don’t have that yet, there are so many opportunities in Cedar Rapids to forge those friendships. A great place to start is this list of things to do in Cedar Rapids. Many of the ideas on the list are great places to meet other moms, such as programs at the Cedar Rapids Library. I hope that both you AND your kiddos are able to find lifelong friends.
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