C’mon! We’re Not Teens Anymore…

I guess some of us still act like teenagers!

Once again, my naiveté had taken over and I assumed that my new neighbors and I would be life-long friends. After all, our daughters were the same age and became fast friends. Surely, their teenage conflicts wouldn’t affect our interactions. What could possibly go wrong? A problem ensued when the parents of the other girls decided to participate in a matter which was simply a teenage spat. Their slander of my name and reputation created an unnecessary conflict, but one from which I learned a great deal. Conflict is a constant in human interaction and understanding why it occurs and utilizing effective communication techniques wherein we recognize the common contributors such as the role of different personality types, stress and anger, and the positive and negative effects we can improve the outcome of such situations.

Conflict will occur even in situations which are seemingly innocuous and involve friendships of all ages. Emma was the younger version of her mother Tammy, and the first time we met, she had one foot on the bicycle seat, the other extended straight out behind her and her arms followed suit. I quickly nicknamed her, “Cameron’s Circus Sideshow Friend”. Lori’s daughter, Emily was a sweet and precocious red head who at our first meeting stood in my drive way dipping pickles in a jar of peanut butter as she gave me the run down on her list of pets. Tammy was hilarious and Lori was warm and welcoming, their daughters were reflections of this and so, I welcomed the new friendships between our daughters and us, with open arms.