lil' maids in a row Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Friends where everyone in your family enjoys everyone in the other family? We are lucky to have some wonderful friends, but no perfect matches. We have some friends where my husband and the dad click really well, and the kids get along great, but the mom and I just don't mesh. We have friends where we love the mom and dad, but the kids make us crazy. Now obviously we are all courteous and polite to each other, but it would be awesome to befriend a family and have everyone be buddies. Do you have this kind of friendship? Or is such good luck just wishful thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 I think it's hard to find something where everyone enjoys everyone all the time. That said, we do have a couple of those. One family in particular, we love both parents and both their kids, and it seems the feeling is mutual, LOL!! We have other families we hang out with too where we mesh enough that it all works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksr5377 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Right now we do. It's actually my best friend from highschool. I do actually worry about the impact our children will have on our relationship though. Right now the children are all young, 5 and under. I hope that since they spend so much time together that they will love each other as family, the good and the bad. But I know that's not certain. They have no intention of homeschooling, so I know when her children go to school we'll see a lot less of them. She works part-time now so that she has two days a week at home with them but plans on going back to work full-time when they're in school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 We do! I feel extremely fortunate about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 (edited) Yes. We have a fairly large church (especially for our area) and that helps a lot. We've done things with several different families, and some we all click great, some we click well enough, etc. TBH, I don't worry about whether we are a 'perfect match' as far as the whole family goes. We do have one family that all of us really click with (well, 2 if you count family). But many of them that maybe aren't as close as that one are still people we really enjoy. :) Edited July 4, 2012 by PeacefulChaos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 We have a couple families locally where it has worked out that way. That said, it's still difficult to get everyone together, finding a time that meshes with the work schedules of both DHs. So even though personalities may be a great match, there can still be other obstacles. Erica in OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylou Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Several. And I feel very blessed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Right now we do. I know I'm lucky and I know it probably won't last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairyMom Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes, we do! We go on vacation together and separate guy/girl vacations. When the guys went on their last trip together, my girls and I camped out at their house for five days. :D It helps they homeschool and have the same life philosophy. We belong to the same small UU church; family. I never thought it would happen. I was 40 when we met them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 We have a couple of family friends, but no *perfect* matchups. We are close to two families who have only one child each, a boy, so dd feels left out sometimes with both of those families. Another couple has no kids of their own, but they both come from families with lots of kids so they adore our kids and the kids adore them. Still, though, they have no actual kids so that's probably a less-than-perfect matchup. Now that I think about it, I have very few friends with daughters. The vast majority of dh and my friends from high school and college just have boys. Strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 We did, in the last state we lived in. Two sets, actually! It was so so nice. I miss that. We haven't found anything close in our latest home, after 5 years here. Maybe next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoot Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 No, but then I have to be honest, we're not really a "have friends" kind of family. We each have a couple of our own friends but we don't "mingle" with each other's. DH has some friends from college that he still gets together with but I try to stay out of that. DS13 is the oldest child (by A LOT) of DH's friends' kids. I have a couple of friends that I talk to occasionally but we don't really get together all that much and DH/DS don't hang out with us or their kids. DS13 has his OWN friends though. We're much more of a loner/homebody kind of family. We just really don't enjoy doing things with other families, for the most part. The idea of vacationing with friends or having people over frequently is absolutely draining to me. Does that make us weird? Never mind, don't answer that. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EducationX2 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes, but it is a little easier for us than it is for some of you guys since it's just DD and I. :D Just two of us to please. We actually have a couple of family friends. One family is the family of my middle and high school best friend. Her and I met in 8th grade and have been best friends forever. Her and her fiancee have 3 kids, a 9yog, 5yog, and 2yob. DD and I spend quite a bit of time with them. They are more like family than friends. Her fiancee treats my DD just like their kids, the three of us work in the kitchen together cooking dinner and cleaning up, when we're together we share childcare duties. It's pretty funny because we're much different types of parents, they are free range and very mainstream (public school, vaccination on time, out of the car seat as soon as law allows, lots of TV and media, etc.) and I'm not mainstream and don't allow DD to be out of adult sight, but somehow it works! When we move next summer, I'll be very sad to leave them. We have some other family friends who live back home so we don't see them as often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes we do, several actually. We are very fortunate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakimberly Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 We do, but they don't live near us. :( Several families actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes, several! It's wonderful...and they're all neighbors, too, which makes it nice and convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 nope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 You might need to adjust your expectations. We have some family friends, in the sense that we can all enjoy spending time together, but definitely not "everyone in our family enjoys everyone in their family" or a perfect match. Heck, I don't know anyone who has that with their family, much less their famiy friends! :lol: I love my family and extended family and spend a lot of time with them, but we definitely don't all enjoy each other all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes--we have several family friends. But I don't usually consider the term "family friends" to mean friends with an entire family necessarily. I also consider older adults whom I trust around my kids and are pals with my kids to be a "family friend"--meaning they are friendly and well known to us and our kids. We have adult friends who aren't terribly interested or involved in our kids. They're just my friend or my dh's friend. Unfortunately we only have one homeschooling family friend local. Several who live in other states. I honestly haven't found our local homeschoolers to be terribly open to befriending new people. We also have one family friend with two teen daughters (one in college now) and those older girls have been a lifesaver on more than one occasion for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sharkgirl Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 We do not. My husband and I tend to be introverts and are quite content just hanging out with our family. This will become problematic in the fall when we start homeschooling our two extroverted children, who have always been in some form of childcare from 3 months old through the end of this month. I really don't know what I'm going to do. The local homeschool groups seem to require a statement of faith that I am uncomfortable with. I am hoping to meet some friends, at least some people who's kids can become my kids' friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes, we have 8 sets of family friends we all really enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 We do....................the 'family' we all love to be around is made up of one man in his 80's! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 No. I don't know anyone who does either. Not if you include kids. There is always a kid or 2 that only tolerate get togethers. Which I think is normal and to be expected. Especially in larger families. It's much easier for a family of 4 to find a few other people they all like. It's much harder to expect 12+ people to all be best buds with everyone in another family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes--we have several family friends. But I don't usually consider the term "family friends" to mean friends with an entire family necessarily. I also consider older adults whom I trust around my kids and are pals with my kids to be a "family friend"--meaning they are friendly and well known to us and our kids. We have adult friends who aren't terribly interested or involved in our kids. They're just my friend or my dh's friend. Unfortunately we only have one homeschooling family friend local. Several who live in other states. I honestly haven't found our local homeschoolers to be terribly open to befriending new people. We also have one family friend with two teen daughters (one in college now) and those older girls have been a lifesaver on more than one occasion for me. This would be us too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnylady303 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 We do, much to my constant amazement. We have several family friends, but we have one family that is really like family. The dad and my dh are best friends, and I have never had a friend like the mom. They have two kids who are each nine months older than each of my dds (did that make sense?). They just had a baby - about a year ago - and I was with them when he was born. We have seen each other through thick and thin. They moved in next door to us a year and a half ago to be closer to us. They homeschool too and we have all taught each other so much. It is an amazing and sacred relationship. And our meeting was so random. :D We often eat together, play music together, the kids run all over both farms. I never forget how blessed we are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 (edited) Friends where everyone in your family enjoys everyone in the other family? We are lucky to have some wonderful friends' date=' but no perfect matches. We have some friends where my husband and the dad click really well, and the kids get along great, but the mom and I just don't mesh. We have friends where we love the mom and dad, but the kids make us crazy. Now obviously we are all courteous and polite to each other, but it would be awesome to befriend a family and have everyone be buddies. Do you have this kind of friendship? Or is such good luck just wishful thinking?[/quote'] We had that "perfect match" with two families for many years. We are still friends with the first one, though our kid have gone through changes that ebb and flow over the years. The second family we are no longer in contact with, due to one particular member of it and the problems we had there. It's a shame. We were close. Edited July 4, 2012 by TranquilMind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 NO. Never had. I wish so badly we did. People to bbq with. Vacation with. Hang out with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joani Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes, we have several. Our best "family friends" ever were my Dh and my stepkids. We were friends before we began dating and our kids were all very good friends. Besides them, we have three families that I would consider family friends. Two live nearby and we often get all three families together. The other lives in Canada but visits every spring, and we've traveled together a few times. While the ages of the kids don't really line up, the kids all get along great and consider these kids to be among their best friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly1730 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Yes, we do. In fact, we had 45 of them here today for the 4th of July:) We have been in the same church for 20 years and are so blessed to have friends with whom we share so much. We have vacationed together with one family multiple times over the years, others we have gone out to dinner with or just spent time in each other's homes over the years. One family are my son's in-laws;) Our son married the daughter of our good friends and I can't tell you how much fun it is to share grandchildren with good friends:) We do the annual 4th of July party ( mostly because we have the pool;)) another family has everyone over for New Year's Eve, etc. I was just thinking how today about how special it is to have these friends for so long; our kids grew up together and now our grandkids are growing up together. We are very blessed to have these wonderful friendships that have lasted all these years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 No. I barely have any friends, so one with kids my own age.....not likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil' maids in a row Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 I'm not sure if all these positive replies make me envious or hopeful ;). I do appreciate the feedback! Thank you! Meredith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Yes. My Dh's best friend from HS. They were just here. And I know how very, very rare that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara in AZ Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Well, I have a close group of four girl friends and our families get together quite often. Our husbands aren't probably all quite as close as we are, but they get along well. The kids have a blast. Growing up we didn't do much with other families. Now, we live far away from family, and I am grateful to have such a great support network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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