Most of my friends are the parents of the children my children grew up with. The ones I met in kindergarten at an open house as we all walked the halls of a brand-new school. Here, we had a lot in common; another milestone for our babies. We were scared, excited and jokingly overwhelmed with everything the teacher was telling us we would need to bring the first day of school.
These are the ones I bumped into at the store as we all mulled over school supplies, trying to find just the right things on the teacher’s list, the perfect backpack and lunch box, and smile at one another because we saw we were all in the same boat together.
I continued to see these same people at birthday parties, school field trips, and eventually, play dates we would schedule because we noticed our children enjoyed playing with one another.
And, before I knew it, the parents I met during the kindergarten open house invited us for dinner. We shared a baby sitter just so we could possibly have conversations without the children, and found that the main topic at our dinner was all about our children. We talked about how they do the same silly things and never want to go to bed until they’ve heard all their favorite bedtime stories.
As our children grew, so did our friendships. We found ourselves organizing block parties, going on spring break together, and crying during graduation. And once our “babies” left the nest for college, I was reaching out to my once kindergarten friends and making plans to meet them for a movie or to get our nails done. The commonality is what keeps our friendships tight. Who needs friends? We all do.