You know how kids are--they mess up everything. Now it seems they'll totally put a strain on your friendships with childless folks, at least if you are a woman. Friends without kids will lament that you can't go out drinking any more, and you'll quickly bore them by dragging them to the park on a Saturday morning and talking about poop and your "flabby stomach". Yeesh. As a mom, I'm not sure I wanna go to the park and yap about baby poop and flabby stomachs either.
The article advises that everyone recognize the friendship will change; that those with kids hold off on boring baby stories while kid-free folks refrain from parenting advice (okay, that's good counsel); and that you all take time for grown-up, kid-free socializing. I have a few very close, long time friends, and some had babies before me while others may never spawn. I guess I don't remember any giant strain on our relationships, in part because a) we were all too boring to go out drinking even when no one had children and b) we have both non-kid interests in common and we've all taken a big role in each other's children's lives. It's like a circle of friendly aunts. But this piece did make me appreciate the friends I have, and reminded me that I owe one of my newly pregnant friends a good amount of babysitting. No problem. And hey, maybe kids can give you a good excuse to lose some of the more annoyingly one-sided relationships you made the mistake of holding on to.
