Tag Archives: friends

Them’s the Breaks!

How quickly and easily life can change! It did for me 7 weeks ago. All it took was our pup’s four wet paws to make the tile floor slippery, and next minute I was seeing stars. When I could eventually get up to sit in a chair, I suspected I’d broken my arm. I’ve had enough broken bones in my life to know how it feels. I hoped and prayed that wasn’t the case. That was before I looked down and saw the bone sticking out at a peculiar angle. Even then I thought perhaps it was just dislocated. Mick … Continue reading →

Having the Hang Out Home

The other day, a parent of one of the neighborhood kids came by looking for his four-year-old son. They had an errand to run and he needed to collect the little boy. “It looks like you have the hang out house!” he said. Having the hang out house can be a mixed blessing. On the positive side I always know where my kids are. They are right at my home or in my yard, so I know that they are safe, and I never have to go looking for them. I can hear and usually see what is going on. … Continue reading →

Dilemmas: Friends and Inappropriate Behaviors, Part 2

In Part 1, I wrote about some sticky situations friends might put us in (knowingly or unknowingly). Ones that can cause dilemmas when deciding how to handle them. I promised my answers for what I would do, so here they are. If a Friend Knew My Husband Was Cheating Ideally, I’d like to have my spouse make the confession. So if my husband was cheating and a friend knew, I’d like the friend to confront Wayne and encourage him to tell me. But if that didn’t happen, I’d want my friend to show me irrefutable proof. I would be the … Continue reading →

Dilemmas: Friends and Inappropriate Behavior

Once upon a time, that reader known as Jade “The Muse” Walker sent me a link to a story about someone’s friend having an affair. The friend’s dilemma: should she tell her friend’s husband about it or not? In addition to asking what I would do, Jade posed another interesting question. “If the situation was reversed, would you want to know?” Sticky Situations Because Jade sent this back when my mom had just moved in with us, I don’t recall everything the article said. (Lots has happened since then and the link is now inactive. I couldn’t reread the article … Continue reading →

Why Pray For Your Community?

In a recent blog I suggested praying for the community where we live. Why should we pray for our communities? Because it is the place where God has put us and we are to be a witness or ambassador there just as Paul was in Corinth, 2 Corinthians 5:20. In Acts 22:15 , though these words were spoken by Ananias to Paul, I believe they ought also apply to us. We need to witness to what we have seen, heard, experienced and know of Jesus. Have you ever thought that you may be in the community where you are because … Continue reading →

Building Your Own Community

When I wrote earlier today about how our friends and support systems can change and evolve as we move through the challenges and journey of parenting, it inspired me to think about the process of building an evolving support system for our families. Most of us have heard how important it is to have a support system and to have a good, supportive community around our families, but many of us have no idea how to go about creating that. We might think that we should be able to walk out the door, find a “community” and settle in for … Continue reading →

Your Friends May Change as Your Kids Grow Up

It is a lovely fantasy to imagine our children growing up with the same friends while we, as the parents, stay friends with those children’s parents. In reality, however, our children may go through different stages and phases and choose different peers and friends to share their journey and we parents change too. There may be some people with whom we trundle along the entire parenting path together, but for most of us, our friends will probably change as our children grow up and our overall lives change. Keep in mind that while your children are busy growing and developing, … Continue reading →

Kids Learn from ALL Their Friends

I have written previously about what a challenge it can be when our children bring home friends that we are not to crazy for. The truth is, however, that ALL of our children’s friends, peers and acquaintances have lessons to teach them. When you think back over your own life, it may just be the most challenging people that taught you the most poignant lessons. Our children will gain experience and learn valuable life lessons from all of their friends—even the ones who are temporary or turn out to NOT be the greatest of friends after all. We may know … Continue reading →

Can You Have Compassion for your Child’s Unlikable Friends?

Let us be honest here—we are not going to like all of the friends and peers that our children interact with. That would be a lot to expect from ourselves! There are going to be children whose manners we don’t like, who do not have healthy boundaries, who may talk or play rudely, or for whatever other reason, we just do not like them. As the adult, however, we have the challenge and opportunity of choosing how to react. There always seems to be that one child in the neighborhood who we would rather not have to interact with. The … Continue reading →

Can You Get Your Kids to Stop Worrying About What Others Think?

Peer pressure is brutal. As parents, we may have done everything we can think of to bolster our children against the realities of peer pressure only to be disappointed to find that our child is still succumbing to worrying about what everyone else is saying and doing. Is there anything we parents can do to get our child to NOT be so concerned with what other people think? I think I am asking the question of questions for parents; one that parents have been asking themselves for decades (if not centuries). There is something about the socialization of the human … Continue reading →