Have you seen or felt the gap of friendship widen as friends become parents? Have you struggled to find mutual ground and felt pushed aside as they navigate to other mums, cancel dates or suddenly appear with a baby in tow when it was supposed to be a girl’s afternoon? Have you had a situation where a friend who you thought understood has suddenly made a comment or sent a photo that totally broke down the bond you had? Who was it who pulled away, perhaps you did and are happier for it; or maybe there is lasting sadness? Or have you stayed friends with someone who really has been there for you and tried to understand even when they truly don’t? Maybe you’ve reached out and reconnected with a past friend or created a whole new friendship circle.
How do you feel about building friendships, are you confident to reach out to mums, the childless and childfree alike in order to build bridges and create understanding?
Strong emotions may come up when we navigate our lives without children around friends with kids. It’s often difficult to talk about these feelings and difficult to live with them. In this workshop I show how we can approach our feelings and emotions through art and we learn that art is the language of our emotions – and the best part: You don’t even need to be good at it!
Watch the replay HERE
Childlessness can place a huge strain on our friendships, so much so that Jody termed it the #FriendshipApocalypse. Those who become parents may envy us our supposed ‘freedom’ whilst we may envy their experience of parenthood and the socially acceptable status that goes along with it. As their children grow up and we pass through the menopause transition, things may begin to change again; sometimes we ‘get our friends back’ only to lose them again to doting grandparenthood.
Watch the replay HERE
Many friends were lost during IVF due to lack of understanding. Babies and pregnancy shoved in my face by those who could not comprehend, shattering my vulnerable heart each time until I could no longer see these people I call friends without wanting to fall apart.