My Child As a Friend

There comes a time in the life of every mom when you see your child as a friend for the first time.  I'm not talking about him being a friend to me, although I'm sure that time will come as well, but as a friend to his friends.  Sure I've seen him be a great friend to his brother or play with his cousins, but it's different when he has a friend who he has chosen to be friends with. 

When Brennon started pre-k, I was so excited to find out that he was in the same class as a little girl we knew named Serenity.  I want Brennon to make decisions on his own, so while I gently nudged him towards her on the first day, I let him figure out on his own if she was somebody that he would want to be friends with.  And he did!  I would love to hear him recount his fun times at school, and he always made sure to include Serenity in his list of people he played with...sometimes she would make up the whole list.  So it really shouldn't have surprised me when he came home one day and told me that he had a girlfriend.  Oh my!  I was so not ready for that!!!  I just have to laugh it off and say that I'm glad she's a girl and she's your friend.  :-)  Kind of like when I was in college and Ryan and I were dating, it took my mom almost a year to not introduce him as my "friend".  In fact, by the time she finally started calling him my boyfriend, we were practically engaged.  Ok, so that was nothing like when I was in college, but it made me think of that.  Maybe someday when he really does have a girlfriend, I will be able to accept it at that time.  Hope so...as long as it doesn't happen until he's 30.

In the meantime, I love it.  We went to Bartlesville on Sunday with Serenity and her mom, Jenifer (who I love and I'm so happy we've become friends!)  It was so cute to see the way that they talked to each other in the car, played together, gave each other attention and cared for each other.  I loved seeing how kind he was and how much he so enjoyed being with his friend all day long.  He couldn't stop talking about his day with Serenity that night at bedtime, and I am so proud of the way that he has become a friend.  He's off to a good start!