There are more times than not when I feel too tired to bother being social or to organise get togethers. I think we all feel that way sometimes after a big day wrangling kids or battling away at work.
Problem for me, I feel like that all the time and I have gotten into the habit of just letting things go and not making the move to maintain connections and friendships.
It’s easier to make the excuse that it is all too hard right now rather than pushing through it and enjoying the benefits of interacting with your friends.
This week I decided to take the initiative and organise some get togethers for myself and for the kids. And I am so glad that I did!
My kids have enjoyed some playdates with their school friends which has kept them occupied and encouraged them to continue to work on their social skills through the holidays.
On these occasions I have enjoyed talking to the other parents, most of whom are now becoming good friends to me in their own right – in fact I may just have found myself some gym buddies!
Yesterday I caught up with some very good friends in the morning and our kids (most of whom fall on the autism spectrum) had the most engaged playdate that I have ever seen. Even Gilbert, who is usually not that interested in playing with the others, ran around with them and had a great time.
And to top things off, last night we caught up with my old gang of school friends at the beach. These are the guys that have been there for me for many years (for one of my friends, we have known each other for more than 30 years now, since we attended pre-school together!).
In recent times we have not seen so much of each other – in fact the last time we caught up together was last christmas – but we are hoping to have more regular get-togethers in the coming year. I certainly felt all the better for the outing, particularly given how tired and uninspired I felt before we went…
It reminds me of one of those beer ads, the one where a guy is fighting with his girlfriend over going away on a trip with his friends. One of his mates (who speaks “woman”) comes in and tells her that her boyfriend needs some time away “to invigorate his soul.”
This is how it feels for me right now. I do feel reinvigorated from the inside out. It may not be easy to always push through the apathy but I have to remind myself that the rewards greatly outweigh the effort when I do!
‘Invigorate his soul’… Good one!
It’s a bit wrong but I love that ad – makes me chuckle everytime!
I so know where you are coming from – I have got to stages where I too felt like it was all just too hard. At the time I was working full time, packing shelves 4-5 nights per week and running a business 4 nights per week and all day Saturday. Then we stopped packing shelves and it has still been too hard to organise catch up with friends.
Thank you for the motivation by sharing how much you enjoyed it – I will try to organise a catch up with friends soon !
Have a great day !
(Popped over from TIL at Kellie’s)
Linda, I’m usually too tired to even contemplate getting in touch with people to organise anything! I’ve enjoyed taking the initiative this week and setting up some meet-ups but it will inevitably slow down again when I head back to work next week. But I just have to remember how good and happy I have felt this week so I can push through it when it all seems too hard to get out there again. Hoping you too can enjoy a catch-up sometime soon!
Hi Kirsty, I hear you! It can be tricky to keep in contact and be social when life is so busy and full. Since we moved last year and are further away from friends it is even harder. We have started a system where we alternate visits to their house and then ours so the travel is shared. It works well but we still don’t get to catch up as often as we would like, it has to be planned well in advance…
Kyrstie, that’s part of the reason my school friends don’t meet up so much as a group anymore. One family lived overseas for 4 years before returning recently while another family lives about 4 hours away. It makes it all the sweeter when we do eventually meet up but it would be so nice to do it more than once a year!
Hi Kirsty, reading your blog post I was noddong my head in agreement with your point of it being easier sometimes to let the social interaction go. Now I’m feeling much more motivated to set up playdates for my kids when we get back from holidays!
Nicole, I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels like it’s too hard sometimes. I’m even more glad to hear that you’re more motivated to set up some playdates too! It can be an effort to organise these things but it has been so worth it for us this last week. I’m really feeling good for putting ourselves out there and enjoying some interaction with others – just need to find the time and the energy to do it more on an ongoing basis…