Anonymous wrote:OP here - I won't intervene! I know better than that. Part-time job would be great, but at 14 that has been hard to achieve. He dog walks for many of the neighbors but that is solitary.

I do offer to car pool a lot because I feel like it gives him one on one time with other kids, someone to walk into the building with. But I see the kids I know already have their groups.

I just wasn't sure if there was anything I could do that wouldn't be obvious. I hope he find his people in high school.

OP, are you part of any parent groups that aren't DCUM? Because this is literally the most toxic group I belong to. Where I live there is a great Facebook group for moms, with an offshoot group for parents of teens, and it's not uncommon for moms to post with questions about increasing social connections for their teen. Sometimes other moms respond suggesting one on one get togethers, sometimes they help organize a group meet up (there is one for "students new to X high school" happening next week), sometimes they just share resources about other activities, sometimes someone just says "hey, my kid loves to meet new people; they can ride the bus together." Obviously, he has to do the heavy lifting of friendship on his own, but there is nothing weird about helping someone look for social connections. Like would you think it was odd if someone posted that their father had just moved to the area and was hoping to meet some other older men? No, you would probably help if you could.

This is in the south but I feel like people can be nice and normal lots of places, so maybe look for other parent groups?

Anonymous wrote:Hi op. Could you maybe ask around and get some other moms with same age boys to maybe bring them over for a playdate with your son?

God no, at 14? Are you crazy lady?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi op. Could you maybe ask around and get some other moms with same age boys to maybe bring them over for a playdate with your son?

Mommy of preschoolers has entered the chat! Teens don’t have play dates! OP’s son is 14, not 4! He sure won’t be making friends if his mommy is engineering his social life.

I love how it's always people like this who lecture others on social skills. Talk about lack of awareness...