Wouldn't that be nice if you could just walk up to someone and just say hey let's be friends. But life is not like that anymore and very few people trust strangers and I'm sure they would look at me as if I had two heads!! But yes I would love to meet people, like that especially if you knew you had things in common Maybe down south where everyone is still friendly and not in a hurry they are like that and more open to listening to a stranger talk but I think up here in Ma we all move WAY to quickly and don't notice the things/people around us...But hey look at me I don't know you but I love your blog and chat with you here and there...maybe that's a sign that I should move down south where it's layed back and very friendly almost like in the little house on the prairy times...yes I'm such a dork I can't help it I LOVE THAT SHOW!!
I really don't think location makes that much of difference. I think you need to just take the time to find people moving at your pace...no matter what that pace is.
I wasn't actually advocating to walk up to strangers because yes that may not be so safe...but as you mentioned we are Random Strangers that ended up on the same group...hmmm.
3/27/08, 7:38 AM
Socialization - one of those words that most homeschoolers dread to hear - not because we are afraid of it, but because most people totally and completely misuse the word.
Main Entry: so·cial·ize Pronunciation: s-sh-lz Function: verb Inflected Form(s): -ized; -iz·ing 1 : to make social; especially : to make fit for a social environment 2 : to take part in social activities - so·cial·i·za·tion /ssh-(-)l-z-shn/ noun - so·cial·iz·er /s-sh-l-zr/ noun
I would also like to share the definition of the word friend:
Main Entry: friend Pronunciation: frend Function: noun 1 : a person who has a strong liking for and trust in another 2 : a person who is not an enemy 3 : a person who aids or favors something
I know that I have blogged about this topic recently, but I really felt that I needed to revisit it because I was speaking to my father over the weekend and I found myself explaining to him (a 60 year old man) how to make friends. He moved to Florida a few years ago and has not adjust really well down there. My step-mom and him like it but they went down there with these huge expectations of having all sorts of things to do and money to do them with - the grass is greener complex is the best way to explain it. (It amazes me how many people I know that have just packed up and moved to other parts of the country with very little research on the place and expected it to change their lives! - but that is for another blog)
So Dad and his wife are now both retired and finding that they have plenty to do in their community during the winter when the "snowbirds" are there, but come about this time each year all the groups start meeting less and less frequently. Neither of them has any idea how to meet people unless they are in a "group" setting.
As I mentioned before KM has always decided who her best friend is based on who is in her class that year. However she is very good at going up to other children at playgrounds and asking if they want to play with her. This makes me wonder what would have happened if I had left her in Public School. Would she have lost that confidence? We are all programmed to only engage with people if we KNOW that there is a common thread. I understand that people get along with others generally based on common interests, but sometimes you have to dive deeper to find those common interests. I also have friends that I never thought I would have ANYTHING in common with, but somehow we seem to fill some unknown void within each other.
Homeschooled children seem to have a self-confidence that is so rooted within that nothing can really budge it. Not that I think they are invincible superheros or anything. I know that they do sometimes get their feelings hurt, but they are so much more willing to put themselves out there.
We are all put into these different categories our whole life and that is how we tend to make friends - maybe as adults we need to just walk up to random strangers and ask if they want to play with us.
2 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formWouldn't that be nice if you could just walk up to someone and just say hey let's be friends. But life is not like that anymore and very few people trust strangers and I'm sure they would look at me as if I had two heads!! But yes I would love to meet people, like that especially if you knew you had things in common Maybe down south where everyone is still friendly and not in a hurry they are like that and more open to listening to a stranger talk but I think up here in Ma we all move WAY to quickly and don't notice the things/people around us...But hey look at me I don't know you but I love your blog and chat with you here and there...maybe that's a sign that I should move down south where it's layed back and very friendly almost like in the little house on the prairy times...yes I'm such a dork I can't help it I LOVE THAT SHOW!!
3/27/08, 12:56 AM
I really don't think location makes that much of difference. I think you need to just take the time to find people moving at your pace...no matter what that pace is.
I wasn't actually advocating to walk up to strangers because yes that may not be so safe...but as you mentioned we are Random Strangers that ended up on the same group...hmmm.
3/27/08, 7:38 AM