Breath of Relief
I have been worried about my daughter's socialization skills for about a year now. She was great with adults but not great with other kids. She wasn't mean at all, just very disinterested and painfully shy. It was one of the many reasons we were o&d.
My husband always told me not to worry, he met his lifelong friend in kindergarten. He is an only. I, on the other hand, am the eldest of five and only made best friends when I was in my mid to late twenties. I always struggled to make and keep friends until then.
Well, she just turned three this weekend and made her first friend. I met a mutual mom through a friend a few weeks ago and invited her to the party. Our only daughters are about 5/6 months apart. Her experience in motherhood was eerily similar to mine, and our daughter's seemed like they'd be a match in heaven. I figured if they didn't click, there would be plenty to do where they could avoid each other and still have fun.
Fast forward to this weekend, and they were inseparable. Holding hands, spinning in circles together, sharing, giggling, the joy on my daughter's face was unforgettable. I don't think a better gift could have been given. Best part? Mom and I also get along like two peas in a pod. We easily chatted for hours and excitedly talked about our schedules and when they could come by again.
My big thing was my delight in both our daughter's behavior. No demanding, shoving, pushing, etc. that I had seen from other kids she tried to interact with. They were both just so enthusiastically polite to each other and caring. Nothing like the "selfish" trope people like to say o&d kids are. It was like this breath of relief from both the other mom and myself that our kid was being able to play and not bossed around. We both expected to have to intervene over behaviors and were just so relieved to see it wasn't the case.
I'm just proud. I've been spending three years thinking I was going to have to fight for my daughter's ability to make friends. Now I know my job won't be to push her to make them, but ensure that I keep the opportunities to make/keep them as open as I can.