RE: Fitting In, Or Not
That’s funny. I hope my kids don’t ever try to get me to befriend their friends’ parents. If friendships naturally develop, that’s great, but I don’t want to go on play dates that my kids set up for me;-).
We sound similar. I’m not very extroverted either, and I used to always just go my own way. Living in Japan for so long has changed that a bit, though.
Before having kids, I never even thought about this problem, of having to either watch my own behavior because of the effects it might have on my kids through the opinions of others, or that I might have to be responsible for my childrens’ actions, despite not being present at the time the incident occurred. These are things I’ve only learned about through experiences (mostly by making mistakes).
Everything seems to have worked out fine. My son’s friend is okay, and his parents don’t appear to be mad about it. I’m sure I was partially overreacting, but you never know.
Yes...the play dates...she’s tried that too. Literally stood there and demanded me and poor other parent set a date. It’s terribly embarrassing. She’s actually quite beautiful in her enthusiasm to see people come together. I marvel at how she’d wave, smile and know so many people at her school by name. Very unlike me at that age or her twin. I really love and admire her extroverted spirit, but it remains a challenge to find a strategy that works for both of us.
Anyway, it’s always interesting to hear of the cultural differences observed by a westerner living in a Japanese society. Dbooster is always pointing out quirky stuff. Hehe.
Yeah, he has a real eye for the everyday differences that are sometimes so obvious that they quickly disappear. I really enjoy his posts.