Teen dd friend issue

[fairfarmhand]

Can your daughter start making comments to help encourage the other girl to branch out a bit? Like in response to "Wait for me outside!"

She can say, "Oh, Susie, you got this! You don't have to have someone waiting for you outside. We'll find each other inside and even if we don't I know we'll see some other people we know and we'll both have a great time."

And "I was thinking, as much as we enjoy one another's company, sometimes other people can get the idea that we don't let people into our circle, especially if we're together at every singel activity. Let's branch out and meet a few other people without one another. Meeting new folks is a life skill and we can be friends with each other as well as many other people. So many people are in need of good friends!"

If the girl responds with anxiety, your dd can build her up and encourage her to stretch herself. "We are strong, independent young women. We got this!"

And "You know, I can't always be here for you. I'd hate for you to need a friend at some point when I'm unavailable. I want you to have lots of different friends so that when I can't be there for you, you'll have some other people to step in."

[teachermom2834]

Yes @fairfarmhand those are perfect things for my dd to say and she does do some of that and is going to make a renewed effort. And all of those things are truthful and kind and the sorts of things my dd is always encouraging her friends on so it is really genuine - which is the best way to go about anything like this.