Socializing with Other School Parents

I pretty much make friends with whoever is fun and whomever I get along with, regardless of where I meet them. I have one person who I am getting to know right now that is a lot of fun. She's way more active than I am and is always kind of on the go where as I am a homebody, so I am getting out more. She is the mom of my older daughter's best friend from school and her younger daughter is in my younger daughter's 1st. grade class. Some parents get on my nerves like some people get on my nerves. I don't hang out much with people who get on my nerves no matter where I know them from.

Yes! some of my best friends are either my child's former teachers, other parents parents or even staff from her schools. Librarians, secretaries, Counselors.. etc.. We party together, have book clubs together, go to the movies together, we love just visiting and catching up.

I know there are some parents that brag about their children, but those are not the ones I am really friends with..

Mostly we all ask about each others children's and all celebrate their accomplishments or morn their loss or their heartache, some are like family now.

I give people time to show their true colors. Some parents are so intense when their children are young, but mellow out once their children get older, especially once their children get to high school.

Once accepted to at least one college, most parents look about 10 years younger, hee, hee..

I have very few friends. I am friendly with a lot of women, but real friends that I see a lot, cry with, rejoice with, run away with? nope. Just two!! And I would trust them with my deepest darkest secrets. Lucky me to have such great friends.
Now, I am friendly and talk with some of the parents at my kid's school, but really I rarely see any of them! My boys take the bus to and from. I see and talk with the parents on my boy's soccer team MUCH more than school.
L.

Yes, most of my amazing women friends I met through our kids' schools.

I didn't actually "reach out" to other school parents, but we became friendly naturally. Setting up play dates, volunteering in class and at other school events you meet a lot of people. Many you like, and many more you don't. Everyone is busy and has different priorities and lifestyles.
But,
I will say after MANY years in the community (kids are 14, 17 and 20 now) I have actually made some very good friends this way. You gravitate over time to people you like and share common interests with. When the kids get older it frees you up to get together as adults if you want to.
Last year a bunch of us formed a book club that meets once a month (SO fun!) We walk and work out together. We have hung out and done dinners and concerts and other outings as couples, without the kids. Are we all besties? No, but we have a good time!

As far as school parents go, I am nice to everybody but am selective with whom I socialize with outside of school. So some of my friends are school parents while others have nothing to do with the school.

I think by having a mix it keeps things balanced. Plus I have gotten to know some of the school parents so well that our relationship is not just about school or our kids anymore. Maybe you just haven't reached that point yet?

I do with some of the moms. I have made some great friends. A group of the moms had a scentsy party/ wine tasting and when they invited me they were like we know you don't drink so are making three different tea flavors for you to try. I thought it was a nice gesture and I had so much fun.
I know for me it has been really nice.
Many blessings

No.

It isn't intentional... I'm just not 19 and so the days of making friends just to hang out for fun are long past. My priorities are my family and kids; other people and their families are secondary to that. So, while I am friendly and chatty and helpful, we don't do get togethers for the parents. The kids, yes. I can talk all day long with a fellow parent about something the kids are trying to plan. But for my own personal social time, we prefer to spend it with people we are friends with for their own sake, not because they happen to have kids our kids know.

I have lots of acquaintances, not so many friends. "Friend" is a title I do not bestow upon someone lightly. It actually means something, usually involving a longstanding relationship. Not someone passing in and out depending on my kids' after school activity of the week.

Just for chit chat and texting, not dinners/coffee get togethers.

Some parents we just click with and start hanging out together. 2 sets of parents we are ski buddies with and we see each other at the little local ski hill all winter on Sat. mornings. That led to having dinner together and then meeting for rock climbing together in the summer. A couple other sets of parents work with my husband and we are friends and get together once or twice a year at each other's houses for dinner parties or the women go out once a year for a "girls night out". There are a couple neighborhood parent friends who get together with me sometimes...come over for coffee or to decorate gingerbread houses in December, or dinner, or we go on a bike ride or run together, walk dogs together, or something like that. We help watch each other's kids all the time when one of us is running late from work or has to work on a holiday. So, yes, I guess some of our friends are also parents of kids who go to our child's school. The parents who get under my skin are not the people I really click with and want to hang out with. But I have found there are an awful lot of really nice, cool people. Too bad there's just not enough time to hang out w everyone. I see you say you prefer a social life outside of school. I think of it as: if you like someone and they actually have time to hang out and do something with you then go for it...who cares if their kid goes to the same school as yours or not! :)

I have never gotten to know any parents really well. I know a few to say hi to but have never socialized with them. I have my own friends I've made thru the years thru my work or the animal shelter I volunteer at.

I'm also an older mom so sometimes the moms seem really young to me. I'm at a different place in my life I guess. If a friendship happened naturally, it would be fine, but I don't seek moms out to socialize with.

I'm open to making friends at any time and venue. However, I barely have time to hang out with the ones I already have, so I'm not exactly going out of my way to nurture and new serious friendships. It's nice when they just happen naturally over time. I am certainly becoming "friendly" with some of the moms at my daughter's elementary school, which is good because we'll be at the school for awhile. But the only friends I actually hang out with are the ones from work (either during work or right after), and old friends when we can actually get together in our busy lives.

Maybe if I didn't work full time I would make more social outings for myself. But I just want to hang with my kids and husband mostly these days :) Or my extended family (sisters, in laws etc)

But yeah, I enjoy socializing with the school peeps at school events and birthday parties and stuff.

I try to mingle with the other parents for several reasons which include knowing what's going on at the school, who the good teachers are and services we could take advantage of that we might not have known of otherwise. Plus, since we'll be there for 8 years between the kids that's a long time to not make an effort. I'm not looking for a best friend but once a month the moms in our grade do get together for a night out. I guess I've lucked out that this year they are all nice and a lot of fun. Or maybe it's just the ones that come out that are nice and fun! There will always be people who get under your skin where ever you meet them at. School is no different!

Well since I homeschool it's important for us to socialize with other homeschoolers. But no when my kid went to school I never really socialized with other school parents. Not because I made a conscious decision not to...I just never thought about it for some reason

I am an introvert too and have always been that way. I find it a chore to socialize with people. I know some parents at my kids' school, but we are more like long time acquaintaces. I feel bad that I don't try harder to know them. I feel bad we have been at this school for 8 years and I'm still not close to anyone there.

Somebody mentioned socializing at birthday parties. That can be a hit or miss when meeting people. By attending these parties, it forces me to talk to school parents I feel comfortable with.

It's ok to have friends outside of school. I prefer it myself. You can be the real you that way.

You know, I haven't so much, and I will tell you why. I have had a lot of problems in this neighborhood with people trying to overstep boundaries and trying to use me, or at least it feels that way. I feel like there are already so many people who started off friendly but mostly they just wanted a place for their children to go- basically free babysitting. After having that happen so many times and starting to see this pattern of people not really wanting to hang out but more than happy to contact me only if they needed something, I find that I keep the neighborhood and school ladies more at arms length. I am much more friendly with other people that I might meet through my friends and I think it is because I know that there is less chance of the babysitting requests and imposing on me when they live a drive away. I am also a pretty private person and do not do well with "drop bys" so again, I prefer to keep friends who won't just stop by unannounced; instead we pre-arrange get-togethers. I have been really lucky to find a fantastic group of ladies that I really love; we all live about 40 min away from each other but we get together weekly and it is perfect,

IF I have enough in common, or my child wants to hang out with their child, or we work on a project, but I really don't go out of my way to socialize with other parents.

I'm a bit of an introvert, too. On the rare occasion that I find someone who fits, then I just go with it, no matter where I meet him/her. I don't seek out friends.

I've never had a parent friend, so that will be new, should it ever happen. I tend to avoid linking up with people whom I'd have to see often once the relationship is over.

I was pretty social in high school and college. Since starting my career and mostly since having children, I am finding myself more and more introverted. Most of my time and energy goes to my job and keeping my family running. SO, I don't spend much time cultivating friendships like I did when I was younger.

There will always be parents that drive you crazy. I do socialize every so often with parents that I have met through the school. It is really having something in common...i.e. your children go to the same school and have some of the same issues.

I do socialize with some of the parents from school, but oddly enough the parents I do hang out with aren't usually the parents of the kids my kids hang out with (a few of them are). The parents are mostly around my age, and we spend a lot of time together at school activities.

I do but that's because I work at my kids school and so I pretty much know most parents. I have become good friends with a couple of them but I talk to most of the parents in the school 5 days a week :) I am a very extreme introvert. Being around a lot of people and crowds just exausts me. I do not do well in big crowds. I tend to get very nervous and I will shut down and just hide in the corner. One on one I'm great and I have no problem with that at all. I just can't deal with large groups or crowds.

I take friends wherever they come. When my son was grade 4 I invited his teacher to his pool party. We clicked very well.

I have a couple of really close friends who are school parents. One is my neighbor and we were friends before she decided to start sending her kids to our school. The other, I met when our sons were in preschool together. We hit it off right away and she is now my closest friend. Now our youngest kids are in preschool together and it's great!

These are parents who I will likely run in circles with for many years. Possibly parents of lifelong friends of my daughters. Growing up, my parents were acquainted with almost all of my friends parents, and it made it easier to stay connected to what we were up to, and in my opinion made our parents jobs easier by knowing the families of our friends. I wouldn't ever want to force friendships with other parents, but I am open to something forming organically. I make efforts to ensure my girls make birthday parties, and they are young still, so parents often stay. This is a place to chat with parents. Just being present for school functions is important to my kids, and another way to get to know other parents. (Chaperoning field trips, helping with class parties...)
I too work full time, and don't see my long time friends enough at it is, but I like to cultivate these relationships since they are a big part of my children's life. Also~ kids entering elementary school in a natural time for social circles to evolve, I think.

I only really have one mom that I talk to...only if we see each other at a school function or a students birthday party. She is really sweet, she is limited in English, so I always make sure to take her under my wing because none of the other moms talk to her. I have only two really close friends, but that's outside of school.