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Old May 29, 2014, 12:11 PM
MusicalRaven MusicalRaven is offline
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Member Since: Nov 2012
Location: Oregon, USA
Posts: 69
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lauliza View Post
When you are friends and one gets married and gets pregnant, that is a big strain on the relationship for all involved. These are major life changes that absolutely threatens the friendship to some extent. I have 3 kids and had single or newly married friends when I was pregnant with my first, and it was tough. I can understand your fears and I can also understand the concerns of your friend. However, I do think that if you are truly close and have a good relationship, then she could stand to be a little kinder. Calling you an "apocolyptic self centered narcissist" sounds over the top to me and I'm hoping it was the mood swings of pregnancy that caused her to be that mean (it happens since pregnancy is very taxing emotionally and physically). It sounds like she is frustrated and scared about the changes that are happening too.

I will say that then are times when, as friends, we have to fake it for the sake of other's feelings, and this is one of those times. I don't think anyone will judge you based on the lone fact that you don't want kids, but if you have an overall negative attitude about kids around a friend that has a new baby, it will strain the friendship. This is not even remotely the same as sharing interests and hobbies, this is about someone's family and their life. If you are disinterested and even resentful, then yes the relationship will suffer. A newborn infant is all consuming and will take priority over everything else in a new mom's life. She will not be able to be there for you if her baby needs her, and she may feel bad about that. I have a sister in law and a friend who both chose not to have kids, and our relationships are fine. It's true we spend less time together, but that's because of different obligations and out of our control. All parents are kid absorbed at first, that is natural and something to prepare for. New parents don't usually intentionally exclude or shut out their friends, but it can happen since a child is such a huge adjustment. But with time most people make a conscious effort to keep some balance in their lives. So friendships can wax and wane but if they are strong, will last. It is definitely something to talk about with your friend and if possible, I would let some things slide right now and if you can, try to show your concerns in a way that she will understand but that won't cause her to worry. If you need to pm me for advice about what to say, feel free to. I understand how hard this can be.
I know that marriage and kids can put a big strain on a friendship. For some reason when she got married it didn't seem like a big change. She still wanted to hang out with me, mostly to get away from the person that she spent literally 24/7 with and she still wanted to share her experiences as a friend, not out of obligation to our friendship. Since I was diagnosed with depression about a year and a half ago and I told her about it she has been all oner the place, first saying that she was always there for me then basically rescinding her availability when I did really need her. Unfortunately the more I need her the more she isn't available. She called me apocalyptic because "every time I suggest something that will be different when the baby comes and suggest ways for you to come over you shoot it down." Unfortunately I was trying to be realistic. She was saying that she would invite me over to her house to hang out when the baby gets her, she doesn't invite me over now so how I am I supposed to know what that will look like, or believe it will even happen. She doesn't drive so I know that if I want to see her it's all on me. It's always been all on me and before she told me she was pregnant we were trying to fix that or at least come to grips with that fact that I don't feel this is a "mutual" friendship anymore.

I will try and fake the liking babies part. I know that people get really annoyed when women don't like children and it's not fair to put that on her, which I'm not trying to do either.