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Olivia Mardwig's avatar

I can definitely relate. I would say my daughter and I are "selectively social". Which has been a helpful framework for me to think about my relationships with people, especially other parents. It can feel sometimes that there are so many categories people put on themselves. "I'm an attachment mom," "I'm a free range mom," "I'm an ambitious work mom" etc. That I often felt forced to "find my tribe." What I have come to realize is that I do better with many loose relationships rather than a BEST friend. I remember well that moment of permission when I knew I could talk to anyone, or noone at the park and both are fine. With my kid we have conversations about initiating play "Hi, do you want to play" (shes 3) and the power of words to self advocate. But on other days we'll do our own thing and I like that too :)

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Claire Zulkey's avatar

I have a friend with a very sweet early teens boy who reminds me of my brother, who def marched to the beat of his own drum when he was younger. She has told me she's worried her son doesn't have many friends and I asked her if he seems worried about it and she admitted no, not really. I told her my bro was the same way--he minded his own until he started to find his people, although it took awhile to get into a bigger pond to find his people (high school.)

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