Talking about a few good friends

I thought I was doing a good job at checking in with my son at dinnertime. He would tell me about his day - if anything special happened or who he played with. I got used to hearing a specific set of names that came up in the "so-and-so is my friend" category.

I thought I knew things. I was wrong.

My son was given a stack of birthday invitations and told to hand them out to his friends. And then the rsvps starting coming into my phone - rsvps from parents with children's names that I had never heard of.

And the messages were fascinating, like: Billy is so sorry that he can't come to your son's birthday - as you know they are best friends - he wants to do something special with him on another day. Or: Jane is so excited about your son's party; she says they play together every day.

I had never heard of Billy or Jane before that moment.

When I asked my son about it, he mentioned that they were great friends of his. They just never made it into our dinner conversations.

I think there are a few lessons here. One is that my son has a whole life that is just his within the school, and that is the way it should be. While he can give me glimpses into it, I am never going to know everything. The other lesson is that my son must be featured in some dinner conversations in other households at night...oh, to be a fly on that wall.

Either way, it's good to meet my son's friends.

Do you know who your child's best friend is? Are you sure? Share in the comments.