New Friends

Caroline has a acquired a new group of friends, mostly boys, with whom she has been hanging out.  She met them through one of the boys who is related to a family in our neighborhood which has taken a real liking to her.  One of these boys goes to a school she used to attend in elementary school, so they knew each other for several years when they were younger.  It doesn't surprise us that she is more comfortable with the boys than she is with girls right now.  She has been badly hurt by girls in the last few years, and I don't think she likes the cattiness in general that most middle school girls exhibit.  Boys are easier to deal with, and they share her athletic interests a lot more.  So we have been allowing her to hang out with them, supervised, at a nearby park, and at the movies, basketball games, etc.  This is more work for us, now that she has people she wants to be with on a daily basis.  But her life has been so void of friendships that we can't exactly stomp on her new relationships. Obviously, these will be carefully monitored relationships.  So we are happy for her with reservations.  Nothing is easy about her, but we want her to enjoy life as much as she can.