Tag Archives: making friends

A Unique Way to Make Friends

It’s funny how one things often triggers another. I’ve just posted my first post recently on the home blog about gardens and it made me think of a couple I used to know. This couple had a prolific vegetable garden. They grew far more than what they needed. They did that for a reason. Why? They then used the produce from the garden to give to neighbors. This couple didn’t want to stay unconnected to their neighbors, so they made a visit to the neighbors taking some of the excess vegetables. As a result, over time, they built up a … Continue reading →

What Stops You from Talking to Someone

What stops you from talking to someone at church, a party of some other social gathering? We’ve been looking at this question in the forum recently. I had two incidents recently, where I tried to be friendly and the other person shut the conversation effectively down by their one word or terse answer. In each case I ended up feeling foolish for even trying to be friendly and initiate conversation. One was a complete stranger I tried to talk to at a party. Her sharp reply and the look she gave me made me fee like a bug under her … Continue reading →

Beware of Sending the Wrong Signals at Church

Recently I saw how easily people can send the wrong signals to others at church. After church we meet together in the hall, verandah s set up with tables and chairs and in the grounds of the church under the shady trees, to share a cup of tea or coffee and talk. This is a valuable time for getting to know people. Sadly, some people don’t take advantage if it. As soon as church is over they are out the door and into their car, giving people no chance to befriend them or get to know them. Another situation I … Continue reading →

How Do You Help Your Dog Make Friends?

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Yesterday, I was thinking about my dogs and their social life… or lack thereof. They don’t have any super close puppy pals at the moment, though we have had them in the past. I realized that we do have two likely candidates for friendship right here in the building. Our next door neighbors have an adorable little Chihuahua mix named Brownie — Moose and Lally have met the little guy before and seem to like him. I’ve seen Lally making the play bow at him, which is a good sign. She wants to play with him. I think the little … Continue reading →

How to Make a Friend

Yesterday we looked at how easily we can fall into laziness maintaining friendships. This prompted me to think more about friends. What makes people connect and move from acquaintances to become friends? You might want to answer this question in the forum. The biggest difference we have found since coming to our current church, is we have made not acquaintances but friends, friends we will one day share eternity with. So how can you make friends not acquaintances? Some ideas I came up with are: Taking time to listen Too often people don’t listen but are waiting to get their … Continue reading →

Being Your Child’s Social Engineer

Children with special needs could almost always use a little help in the friendship department. They might have difficulty with communication or conversation, feel afraid of how other children will accept them, or just plain don’t know how to relate. As a parent, you can greatly enhance your child’s life by offering a bit of social engineering. “I like ants. Do you?” Children on the autism spectrum, especially those with Aspergers Syndrome, often have particularly narrow interests which are hard to draw other children into. I recently read about a child with Aspergers who had a fascination with ants. He … Continue reading →

Let Kids Friendships Develop Naturally

As adults we tend to forget how important making friends can be to our kids. Tyler has been worried the past few weeks that he won’t make friends when we return to New Orleans. He’s especially concerned about being the “new kid” in the class. School starts after Labor Day but there’s a chance we may not return until school is in session because my house is not quite ready. The plan is to homeschool him until we return. I have assured him that he will make friends. He has the kind of personality that draws kids to him. Just … Continue reading →

Barbie Fairytopia: The Magic of the Rainbow (2007)

Elina is a hero in the land of Fairytopia. She saved all the fairies from Laverna’s evil plan to kidnap the guardian fairies and use their powers to become the most powerful fairy of all in the movie “Fairytopia,” and in “Fairytopia Mermaidia,” she became a mermaid to save her friend Prince Nalu from another one of Laverna’s schemes. But not all the other fairies appreciate her reputation, as she’s about to discover in “The Magic of the Rainbow.” The fairy guardians are each choosing an apprentice to learn how to do the dance of spring, a crucial ritual in … Continue reading →

The Quilter’s Apprentice – Jennifer Chiaverini

“The Quilter’s Apprentice” is the first volume in the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini, and is in fact Jennifer’s first novel. Sarah McClure and her husband Matt have come to Waterford, Pennsylvania, searching for a new life. Matt is starting up his own landscaping business, but Sarah can’t find anything that matches her skill set. Out of desperation, she takes a job as a housekeeper at Elm Creek Manor, a stately old place on the edge of town that’s full of history. The owner, Sylvia Compson, is an elderly and ornery woman, and a master quilter. When Sarah … Continue reading →

My Best Friend Moved Away – Nancy Carlson

Life brings changes, some planned and expected, others surprising and unwelcome. This picture book, “My Best Friend Moved Away” by Nancy Carlson, talks about one of those changes that is bound to happen during the course of one’s childhood, that of losing a friend. The book begins by showing us all the things that the two girls used to do together. “My best friend and I did everything together,” it reads, and we see pictures of the girls on the swings, making a snowman, building sandcastles, and just enjoying each other’s company. “But then she moved away,” as the moving … Continue reading →