I just never really liked playing with the girls.
Boring.
I did have some girlfriends at school … maybe one or two.
But, on a day-to-day basis, I played with boys.
My best friends have always been boys.
I just liked them better and there was never any drama.
As a young girl, I played outside daily with my next-door neighbor … a boy. I remember climbing and spending many days on the giant oak tree in the front of our house.
Even as I got older, all the way up into middle school, I played and hung out with my step-dad’s younger brother who was only one year older than me. We lived out in the country. Our daily activities were climbing roofs, harassing our 90-year-old aunt, riding bikes, blowing up frogs in shoe boxes (not proud of that one), and hunting for snakes.
And, if I wasn’t playing with the boys, I played alone.
Let’s not forget, I’m an only child. I know. Shocker.
I was perfectly content to play alone.
I read a lot. I colored. But, I mostly sang.
I can remember singing anything and everything from Michael Jackson’s “Dancing Machine” (on eight-track, mind you), to Heart’s “Barracuda,” to Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou,” to every song from Grease.
I must admit. I did play with Barbies. Just a little. All I remember is creating makeshift furniture to create the Barbie house I didn’t have and always wanted. I’m not bitter.
I’ve often wondered why I always preferred the boys over the girls as friends.
I always felt very comfortable with the boys, even when I was the only girl. No problem.
Even when I was in high school, my best friend was, of course, a boy … and my boyfriend. Because I was always with him, I hung out with his friends. It’s just the way it was.
I had one girl who I would consider to have been a good friend in high school and we really didn’t hang out that much away from school. But, I did like her a lot. She had her own boyfriend so maybe it was because she wasn’t needy at all.
In college, my girlfriend pool grew larger, but still they were really just girls to go out and have fun with. No real relationships.
And, after my first semester in college, I had developed a relationship with, you guessed it, a boy. Again, my best friend was a boy.
After I got married, my best friend … a boy, of course. No need for any girls. I was just too busy.
However, my first real friendship with a girl (woman) occurred after K Belle was born and we lived in a Oklahoma. She was a neighbor with a child of a similar age. I didn’t even know how special our relationship was until the morning that I pulled the U-Haul out of our garage to move back to Louisiana. She had attached a card to the windshield, and as I read it, tears streamed down my face. I was really going to miss this girl. I really did love her.
After moving home, I still didn’t really seek out any girlfriend relationships. I was busy with kids and really just didn’t think about it.
When we went out with couples, it was due to Beau being friends with them. I always felt like I was just tagging along and enjoying the company. At that time, it was good to have any kind of adult conversation.
Since then, I feel like I’ve moved into a new season in my life, which includes girlfriends.
I can’t even begin to express how precious my girlfriend relationships are to me. I have a few really good friends that I know I can trust with anything and would come running if I ever needed them.
I am blessed and now understand the true value of friendships among women.
But, hey, I can still hang with any guys and feel right at home, and can probably beat them in a foot race too.
I absolutely love my girl friendships. I have some amazing friends, and, while I love my BFF (who is a boy — the hubby, lol), I would hate to have to be without my girlfriends.
I made the best girlfriends I've ever had in college — prior to that though I was just like you — didn't have a lot of close girlfriends. But there are definitely some things you can get out of a relationship with your best girl friend than you can't get with the other gender! I'm so thankful for my girlfriends!
When I was Elementary age my best friends were girls but starting in Middle School all they wanted to do was talk about boys and makeup and I just wasn't interested so I started to hang around with the boys more often… I still had girlfriends too though.
Great friendships, without drama, are priceless.
I love this. I can relate to so much of it.
I really have preferred relationships with boys too, for years. Until very recent years, actually. I've made the shift into friendships with women and I adore them and value them so much.
I'm still pretty comfortable hanging out with boys, but for the first time in my life, if I had to choose between boy and girl friends, I'm going with the girls. 🙂
Over the past two years, I became very good friends with another pastor's wife (I'm a PW), and this afternoon, I helped her and her husband pack up their home. They are moving halfway across the country on Monday, and I couldn't be more broken-hearted over it. So I know what you mean about having women friends who are so dear to you, and even though my best friend/spouse is male, I have grown to really depend on the small circle of female friends that God has placed in my life.
Daphne,
As I'm sitting here reading this, tears are streaming down my face. I will always cherish our friendship and all the good memories we made. As new mommies, we totally relied on each other for so much and will never forget all the cute things KK and Kylie did together as 1st best friends. I totally was like you with the guy friend thing back in the day and after you left it took me several years to find some good girlfriends. I thank you for showing my how to renew my relationship with Jesus and for taking me to church at Victory. You are a wonderful girlfriend and I miss you
I have a sister that I am not friends with, but I have two very special girlfriends. I am closest to my daughter, though.