Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Friends or just friendly?

A large amount of my time these days is taken up with making sure my kids are OK.  That is the case most of the time anyway, for most parents.  But, moving across the country has caused my "Momma Bear" instincts to go into overdrive!  Tanner has it the easiest, I think.  He's in fourth grade, stays with the same class for most of his day.  He's already made a couple of friends there.  The true test will be how the first sleepover goes (in two days) with his new friend John.  He's nervous, I can tell.  But I am not far away if I need to throw on my coat and slippers in the middle of the night and come to his rescue.
Aidan is a whole nother bucket of bolts entirely!  Middle school...could there be a WORSE time to be new and not really know anybody?  NO!  I know this from experience.  I moved from Michigan to Missouri right before the 6th grade and really thought I would die from the drama of it all!  So, I CAN and DO relate to Aidan's situation.  He's not putting himself out there.  He's not showing his true personality.  But I get it, what if they don't like you, what if they think you're weird?  I remember feeling that way.  So I just encourage him to be friendly.  That's what I'm doing too.  I've met people through volunteering at Tanner's school and I'm friendly.  You don't make awesome friends in a matter of weeks.  This will take time.  But part of me is like, "HEY, you middle school brats, MY kid is freakin' awesome!  Why are you not falling all over yourself to try and hang out with him?"  I miss Aidan's friends from home.  They were great kids with huge hearts and they were just as goofy as my son.

I know we will get there.  In the meantime, I'm being friendly but really missing being my true (cough cough) wonderfully sarcastic self around my friends at home.  The great thing about your real friends, people you've known for years, they know about all your crap, good or bad!  They embrace those quirky parts of your personality and love you for them instead of judging you.  You can give them all kinds of hell and they'll just give it right back!  I miss "inside jokes" and my BFF Mary saying "I KNOW, RIGHT?" while smacking me really hard on the shoulder.  I miss Cruzen calling me "Burke."  I miss sarcasm (from someone other than my children and husband).

Stay tuned for updates.  Maybe the next time I write, Aidan will have made a friend.  Maybe I will have made a friend.  Or maybe I'll be trying to stick stamps on my forehead and mail myself back to Missouri.