Make New Friends

Yesterday I dropped my son off for his first day of day camp.  He signed up for “Junkyard Robots.”  My son is naturally shy, and I knew that a roomful of unfamiliar kids was a daunting prospect.  Nevertheless, he never hinted that he didn’t want to go.  He packed his backpack (with a snack, water, and a Philips screwdriver) and put on his shoes without any hesitation.  His eyes turned red when I hugged him good-bye, but he didn’t actually cry.  At the end of the day he reported, “It was good.”

He is learning how to make new friends.  Last week at the park another boy sidled up to him and fell in with his project of digging the deepest hole he could.  The pit evolved into a fort built from sticks the boys carried up from the creek.  When we moms finally decided it was time to go, the other boy asked us to meet him at the park again this week.  My son is eager to keep the appointment.  I don’t know if the other boy’s mom will agree or remember, but we’ll be there, just in case.

I am proud of my son for overcoming his shyness.  I foresee that soon I will have to overcome mine.  Once my son makes friends at day camp or at school, he will want to have play dates, sleep overs, “Can Tanner come with us to get pizza?”  I don’t mind dropping him off at day camp or keeping a casual rendezvous at the park, but I am terrified of calling other moms on the phone.

Of course I want my son to grow up having faithful and stalwart friends.  Nevertheless, a part of me preferred the days when he just wanted his grandma and grandpa at his birthday party.

Actually, though, my daughter has already led me into the fray of birthday parties, tea parties (with lemonade), and a proposed outing to a farm.  It began with impersonal e-vites, standing around on the fringes at Gymboree, and then another mom’s suggestion that we make a play date for our kids.  We coordinate by email, which I find much less intimidating than the telephone, and, to my surprise, I am making new friends.

I just have to pack my backpack and put on my shoes and be brave.