The current craze for the offspring is something called gogo's. Frankly I have no idea what their purpose actually is, but it seems to create animated discussion and entertainment for extended periods. As a parent this is always good news.
Miss Medium came home recently from school clearly flustered and out of sorts. A quiet chat helped me to uncover the fact that her attempts to trade said gogos were being met with utter failure. She'd seen her older brother do it successfully and couldn't understand why the other kids didn't want to do it with her as well.
I died a little bit inside, as one always does when your child faces rejection or things don't work out the way one hopes.
But this is life isn't it?
A recent attempt at bootcamp ended in failure for me. There were 2 other pairs at it and a perfectly nice coach. They were all warm and friendly, but I knew I didn't really belong there. More a 'it's not you, it's me scenario.'
An attempt to befriend some parents in one of the kid's yeargroup last year ended similarly, when it was made clear time and time again that I wasn't part of the social scene and there were no plans to include me in it either. More a 'it's not me, it's you.'
Strangely enough, none of these things wounded me the way they would have previously. Therapy has helped me learn to like me more. I've relaxed and embraced the fact that I don't have to like or appreciate everyone either.
That's life.
It's okay to walk away and to accept that sometimes others won't like us as much as we'd hoped.
So my starry eyed daughter and I chatted for a while.
And she's decided to collect stickers instead. Some of her friends do that too.
And me? I have wonderful friends. From the one who came for a coffee yesterday bearing DELICIOUS slice and flowers with whom I can share pretty much anything, through to those I skype with regularly. There's no sense of anxiety or having to try. It just is.
And it's wonderful.
And bootcamp?
Well I am ever the optimist about finding an exercise group I can enjoy.
It's out there.
I'm just not going to try too hard to find it.
Because it just isn't meant to be so much work.