Let’s be friends

On Friday nights my husband and I are usually exhausted from the busy work week, so our nights usually go something like this: ordering in, hanging out with the girls, putting them to bed, and then peeling our eyelids open while we try to watch a movie. Not a terrible way to start the weekend, but sometimes we want to hang out with other people that are in the same boat as us, or other parents.

A funny thing happens when you become parents — you’re not exactly a part of the party and club scene (not that we really were, at least not all the time) and you have not exactly found a lot of other people in your stage of life either. At least for us, we haven’t found our groove in that area at this point in time.

There is this weird in-between phase of “we’re-young-parents-we-still-want-to-hang-out-just-not-necessarily-go-out-all-of-the-time-maybe-we-can-all-get-together-with-our-kids-and-hang-out? Or no?

I have a girlfriend who lives about five minutes away from me. From time to time she and her husband and their three year old daughter come over or we will go over to their house.

It is perfect — the girls all play together, and the grown-ups drink (responsibly, of course) while sharing some laughs. We’ve spent nights in stitches, laughing only the way someone you’ve shared a lot of history with can make you laugh. I miss that.

But recently, we haven’t seen each other much. Life has gotten in the way, I guess not for us, but for them. It seems that there’s always an excuse; someone is sick or tired or both. My husband and I are realizing that maybe they’re just not that into us anymore.

So, we’re in the market for new same-stage-in-life friends. It’s funny and awkward. You’re never too old to make new friends, but it’s not easy, especially when you’re checking out the entire family’s compatibility with your family.

We’re now those weird people that check out other people in hopes of finding new Friday night companionship, play dates, barbecues, and happy hours. All the fun stuff you do with your friends, plus the little ones.