Ah, friendship. When I think back to my childhood of multiple moves and schools, I remember how challenging it was to start at a new school or move into a new neighborhood and find kids to befriend. Having had a lifelong inferiority complex, everyone else was always infinitely cooler than me, and I was easily intimidated. Thankfully, I still managed to find some fabulous friends, some who I still hold dear in my heart all these years later, even though we haven't seen each other for many a year.
As an adult, I've found that making friends has been a much easier process, and it probably helps that I've grown out of any semblance of shyness that I had as a child and have been slowly morphing into my mother, whose habit of talking to anyone, anywhere always embarrassed me as a child. The friends that are a part of my life now are a varied bunch, but there's one thing that they all share: a love of laughter. For as much as my friends have listened to me cry and offered a shoulder (or a tissue, since I get kind of drippy when I cry), they have heard my annoyingly loud laugh many, many times more. A gathering of pals is always filled with laughter, and they are some of my favorite times of my life.
This morning, three friends and their kids came over, and added to the motley crew I call my own, plus one of JAM's friends who is a regular around these parts, there was a grand total of ten kids from age 3 to 11, generally wreaking havoc and having a grand time doing it. We mamas tried to stay out of said havoc as much as possible, assisted by the joy that is a series of mimosas.
While the chatting and playing was taking place, Red grabbed my camera and documented some moments, giving an idea of what she thinks is important. As a result, there were a couple pictures of the moms, a few of her friends playing, and a whole lot of her pieces of artwork on the wall. Here are some of the highlights:
Sure, it's blurry, but can't you just hear the laughter that is happening in this photo?
Red is an up-close-and-personal kind of photographer.
Art materials and small play figures entertain the 3-7 year old set.
A moment when not one person was screaming or crying. Beautiful.
To round out the day, we then had friends over for dinner, and we were happy to meet their new baby, who is almost three months old now! It felt nice to be cooking a meal for friends, and our own children were well enough behaved that we were able to just sit around and chat. Their baby is adorable, though sadly I didn't break out the camera at all to provide photographic evidence to prove that point. She even let me hold her for a while without crying too much, which is always my fear. It was fun to see our friends in their new roles as Mommy and Daddy, and they exude a happiness and peacefulness that is heartwarming to witness.
Going back to work has really taken a toll on my social life, so it was nice to try to fit in some low-key hanging out with pals during this time off. And, of course, there's still tomorrow night, which will see us hanging with some dear friends who will be once again be hosting our entire family for the evening. There will be cheese fondue AND the chocolate fountain going, so I will close out the year on a note of melted goodness.
Where would we be without all these amazing friends in our lives? Honestly, we're so damn fortunate.
Thankful for winter break socializing,
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