How often do you see your friends?

[Anonymous]

How often do you see any specific friend or couple? Not including neighbors, since you can easily bump into them.

Our friends in the area all live 20-45 minutes away (we're not far out; they are just scattered). Between household and family obligations - theirs and ours - we only see even our closest friends once every few months. Others are less frequent than that.

Is this typical? Is there a good way to change this?

[Anonymous]

Same sitn here. It's hard in this area with the traffic situation. Don't have a solution, but it's one reason we want to move to a friendlier neighborhood so that we can be friends with our neighbors and don't have to travel to socialize!

[Anonymous]

I dont have any friends to see

[Anonymous]

Never. I have some, one I just email (she lives 20 minutes away), and the other I call nearly daily, she lives in NOVA, and it can either be half an hour away, or three hours away.

[Anonymous]

Almost never. (Don't we sound like a sad lot!) My best friends all live in other cities, and I have lost touch with friends around here because of schedules, distance (time, not miles) and sometimes vastly different parenting styles (people I knew before kids).

The truth is, I don't need friends I "see" all the time. I don't have enough time with my husband (aka my best friend), so that is my priority right now. But I wish I had a broader circle of nearby friends to chat with. Once my oldest starts school this fall, I am hopeful that I can find a few parents that I "click" with more than some of my immediate neighbors.

[Anonymous]

As a couple, DH & I-Once a month.

Myself and my girlfriends-Once a week or more.

[Anonymous]

"Friends"? What are those?

I feel like I'm in a foxhole with dear spouse and dear children protecting and ducking and attacking when necessary. As a parent, I sometimes feel that we're under seige, facing an onslaught from all directions, engaging in critical battles, sometimes suffering a a wound or two. For example, for those of you who have been through the whole private school admissions process recently, you know it's a war zone out there. Okay, slight hyperbole to make a point -- with the time and effort raising dear children in an environment like Washington, DC, who has time for friends?

The thing of it is, my sense is that so many of us on this board, with similar questions, interests, and obsessions, would probably make the best of friends. Perhaps one day someone should coordinate a Happy Hour for all DCUM addicts, posters, and lurkers. Until then, pathetic as it may sound, you're basically my friends, so I suppose time spent here is time spent with friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a couple, DH & I-Once a month.

Myself and my girlfriends-Once a week or more.

OP here. Do you see the same people once a month, though? Like, how often do see John and Jane Friend? That's more what I intended by my post, originally.

[Anonymous]

I have some friends I see once a month and some every couple of months. I spend a lot of time on the phone though and a few I talk to nearly daily. I agree that driving is the pain. Most of these people I grew up with so we are so used to each other that we can parent differently and just agree to disagree so far. But, many of them don't have kids yet so we'll see how that pans out! I see some of them as a couple of the weekends, but some I meet for lunch on the days I work or I bring my daughter to meet them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have some friends I see once a month and some every couple of months. I spend a lot of time on the phone though and a few I talk to nearly daily. I agree that driving is the pain. Most of these people I grew up with so we are so used to each other that we can parent differently and just agree to disagree so far. But, many of them don't have kids yet so we'll see how that pans out! I see some of them as a couple of the weekends, but some I meet for lunch on the days I work or I bring my daughter to meet them.

Oh, and yes....the people I see more often are usually the same people....4 girls I went to HS with in Baltimore, one I met at work (maybe once every other month for lunch) and then one person I work with and we see them as a couple every other month maybe.

[Anonymous]

Once every 6 months. They live in Arlington, we live in Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Friends"? What are those?

I feel like I'm in a foxhole with dear spouse and dear children protecting and ducking and attacking when necessary. As a parent, I sometimes feel that we're under seige, facing an onslaught from all directions, engaging in critical battles, sometimes suffering a a wound or two. For example, for those of you who have been through the whole private school admissions process recently, you know it's a war zone out there. Okay, slight hyperbole to make a point -- with the time and effort raising dear children in an environment like Washington, DC, who has time for friends?

The thing of it is, my sense is that so many of us on this board, with similar questions, interests, and obsessions, would probably make the best of friends. Perhaps one day someone should coordinate a Happy Hour for all DCUM addicts, posters, and lurkers. Until then, pathetic as it may sound, you're basically my friends, so I suppose time spent here is time spent with friends.

This occurred to me yesterday when I saw the "DCUM Addiction" post. This is a little community that many people lack in the modern world. I think that's why I return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost never. (Don't we sound like a sad lot!) My best friends all live in other cities, and I have lost touch with friends around here because of schedules, distance (time, not miles) and sometimes vastly different parenting styles (people I knew before kids).

The truth is, I don't need friends I "see" all the time. I don't have enough time with my husband (aka my best friend), so that is my priority right now. But I wish I had a broader circle of nearby friends to chat with. Once my oldest starts school this fall, I am hopeful that I can find a few parents that I "click" with more than some of my immediate neighbors.

I feel this way also. I don't feel warm & fuzzy with neighbors. I thought I was being too much of a loner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost never. (Don't we sound like a sad lot!) My best friends all live in other cities, and I have lost touch with friends around here because of schedules, distance (time, not miles) and sometimes vastly different parenting styles (people I knew before kids).

The truth is, I don't need friends I "see" all the time. I don't have enough time with my husband (aka my best friend), so that is my priority right now. But I wish I had a broader circle of nearby friends to chat with. Once my oldest starts school this fall, I am hopeful that I can find a few parents that I "click" with more than some of my immediate neighbors.

I could have written this post. . . we (my husband and I) appear to have found some nice friends from our sons daycare which have similar interests to us and similar aged kids.

[Anonymous]

Most of my friends live in other cities and I miss them dearly. I spend most of my time with DH and kids. That's probably why I'm so hooked on this site, it gives me a sense of community.