make new friends, but keep the old

it's a funny season starting kindergarten and a new year of preschool. so many new families and little ones; it isn't just back to school for the kiddos, it's back to school for us too! i don't know about you, but it kind of feels like junior high all over again: there are the cool parents who seem to always know what's going on & look effortless at whatever they do, the active ones who are in charge of everything, the wallflowers who chill at the side of the playground and don't make eye contact, the awkward ones who can't figure out what to say or do. 

obviously i fall under the effortlessly cool category. (if you saw the multiple food stains on what i thought was a clean shirt when i put it on this morning or the back seat of my car right now which looks like small children carrying small toys and mismatched clothing got caught in the middle of a tornado, you would know that i am joking.)

when i was growing up most - if not all - of my parents' friends were through church, so they never really had lots of school-related parent friends. but here we are, knee deep in one school (our co-op preschool) about to wade into another (m's elementary school). so that means lots of, "hi, my name is susannah. i'm monrovia's mom..." conversations.

there is something amazing about making a new friend- it's as if a new little world opens up full of new topics and connections and possibilities. but there is something about friends with history. the kind of friends who have been there through so many seasons that you've lost count, the kind of friends who can read what you're saying between the lines or the truth under your sunny facade, the friends who will rally on your behalf because that's what you've done for each other for so long that there really isn't even a question. friends who will still be around no matter what school you're at, or what city you live in.

last night i was (yes, sick) and up late trying to knock out some work that i intended to have done a couple weeks ago. (oops!) as the hours ticked by i looked up and realized it was september 12th, which means birthday time for my friend-for-many-years, courtney!

courtney is one of those rare people who really listens, who sends you real cards in the actual mail, who checks in to make sure you're doing ok because you haven't called back yet. she is loyal, kind, thoughtful, and one of my life-long friends.

(happiest of birthdays to her)

so as we begin this new elementary school situation, i guess i'm wondering what you do? stick to your tried and true friends? make new ones with the parents you connect with at school? or hang with the parents of the kid your own children gravitate towards? integrate old friends and new? not hang out with anyone but your own kids?