My daughter has been coming to me for years – talking about how the ins and outs of best friends liking her one day and dropping her the next. It’s been an eye opener for me as I can’t ever remember having to navigate around female friendships like she is doing at school.
In hindsight I think I avoided a lot of the tricky friendships by specialising in music and the arts during lunch and recess times. I was constantly busy! However, later on I needed to learn the skills of how to stick up for myself and develop healthy, supportive friendships. Here are some of the tips I passed on to my daughter.
5 Tips for Handling Tricky Female Friendships
Conflict in a friendship is normal
Let our girls know ALL friendships have conflict. So don’t throw away a friendship because of a fight.
Step back, look at the friendship and ask if it’s worth moving past. Be willing to apologise.
Boundaries are EVERYTHING
Kids can’t be expected to know how to do something straight away. To start with we need to take the time to show them the basics. Demonstrating how to peel a carrot or throw a ball is part of coaching and completely necessary for our kids to grasp a concept. We might need to demonstrate at least 5 times before it clicks into place.
Keep it between you & that person
If someone upsets you — don’t discuss it with everyone else or punish them. That’s called CREATING A DRAMA CYCLONE. Take the person aside and talk to them privately. Not over text. Big conversations have no place online — do it in person.
