**Friends Leaving**

My girls are very sad because their best friends are leaving soon to live in Switzerland for a couple months.  A couple months is going to feel like a very long time, especially because these are the friends that my girls connect with the most.  Brenna and her friend can spend hours writing songs together, singing, dancing, doing makeovers, talking about the boys they like!  And Aubree and her friend spend most of their time on all fours pretending to be dogs, horses, or wolves!  They are really going to miss them, so I feel bad for them.  I'm trying to put a positive spin on it for them by telling them  it will be fun to be pen pals!  And they can be a Flat Stanley, well, Flat Brenna and Flat Aubree. :)  We're going to print pictures of them, laminate them, and give the pics to their friends, so they'll be traveling with them, and, maybe, they can be included in some pictures taken in Europe!

I love that my girls have a great connection with these girls, but sometimes I worry that they don't have enough friends.  Besides the girls I mentioned I above, my girls only have a couple other friends, and if they're busy, there's no one else for them to call.  I don't think they need to have a whole gaggle of friends, but, I think, meeting a couple new friends would be good.  Plus, old friendships can change - kids might find that they don't have as much in common anymore, or that they've just outgrown each other, or whatever.  Brenna is starting a new dance class, so maybe she'll meet someone there, and Aubree is starting horse lessons, but I don't know if there will be other kids there - we'll see.

Of course, the girls meeting new friends means that I would have to meet new friends.  I mean, I can't let my girls spend time over at some one's house if I don't know the parents well, but the problem is...I don't want to make new friends!  And I know that sounds ridiculous, but I'm good, I'm set - I have my friends, and I can, barely, make time to do anything with the ones I have, so I have no desire to add more people to that mix!  So, it's hard because I can't very well say to someone - "Listen, I want my daughter to be friends with your daughter, and I would love for your daughter to spend time at our house, and my daughter can hang out at your house, too, but I, personally, have no desire to form a true friendship with you in any way, so you and I won't be spending any time together, at all.  Okay? Thanks!" - yea, they would take their kid, and run away, but, hey, that's what I would like to say.  Yup, I know - I'm a nut job!! Anyway, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.