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Posts Tagged ‘toxic friends’

The Importance of Female Friendships

Wednesday, October 10th, 2012

As if we didn’t already know how incredible it feels to be with our girlfriends, a recent study out of Stanford explained just how “healthy” these female friendships are.

I was sent an article and have tried to track down the source, since you know how important providing accurate information is on this blog. I was unable to track down the exact source, but after much research on this topic, it appears that the results of this study are in fact accurate.

My girlfriends are my oxygen tanks – not a word of a lie. Girlfriends can fill a void in us that no other relationship can fill- not our spouses, not our children, nor our co-workers. If you’re lucky enough to find one great friend, or a few friends who are TRUE friends, you are one lucky lady.

My girls trip to New York City

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Posted in Friendship, Relationships | 10 Comments »

Friendships

Monday, November 1st, 2010

By Anonymous Guest Blogger, Man on the Fence


The subject of friends and friendship has been omnipresent in my mind lately. I have given a lot of thought as to what constitutes a “great friend.” We all have friends that we have accumulated over the years, some better than others, but still consider friends nonetheless. Over the last little while, I made the conscious decision, that since I considered myself such a good friend, I would no longer accept having simple friendships that were devoid of moral depth and values…

My meaning by this is as follows; our time is precious, friendship is precious and ought to be awarded the right respect to ensure fulfillment and happiness throughout our lives. Those friends that can’t accomplish this life’s mission simply have no place in my world. This doesn’t mean I don’t have friends that disagree with me or have an issue with certain character flaws I may have.  It just means that at the core of humanity, you want to know with certainty, that the person you refer to and call a friend, is indeed just that. A friend should be someone that is always there to comfort you, console you and someone you share your most private thoughts with. Obviously, this would include our spouses or even our children when possible.

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Posted in Friendship | 10 Comments »

The Trick of Boundaries and Rules with our Daughters

Monday, October 18th, 2010

By Guest Blogger  Susan Shapiro Barash

Susan with her two daughters, Jennie and Elizabeth

As I listened to the voices of a variety of mothers this past year and investigated why mothering daughters today seems more arduous, more difficult than ever, I couldn’t help but think of my own daughters and the pitfalls and rewards of raising them.  As they grew up – today they are 23 and 30– I often struggled with the ‘right’ answers to their requests.

Should I have allowed a curfew that made me worry for hours, just because my older daughter, at 15 pleaded with me and claimed that “all” her friends had the same late curfew?  Should I have said no when she wanted her ears pierced at eight, which felt too young and somehow not appropriate? Not only did I say yes to this, but when my younger daughter wanted her ears pierced at seven, I agreed, figuring that this daughter was immersed in a much slicker, faster world than her big sister, seven years older, had experienced.

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Posted in Kids, Motherhood, Stress | 11 Comments »

The Dark Side of Friendship

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

There are tall ships
There are small ships
But the best ships
Are friendships…

Unless of course, when the friend takes her life frustrations out on you, dumps her baggage all over you, and acts aggressively towards you.

Yes, this Blog post is about the dark side of friendship. Reason being– you asked for it.

To be honest, I have not had too many toxic friendships over the years. I was never one of those bitchy girls either. I was raised to talk to everyone and I always had friends in many circles. I never liked cliques. But many of you have written in about the friends you’ve dropped, dumped and severed ties with.

One mom wrote in about her best friend’s daughter taunting  her own daughter and belittling her on Facebook. Ew! Another woman wrote in about her long time friend who was in a bad marriage, and out of jealousy, was gossiping and badmouthing her behind her back. Disgusting! These toxic friendships are unsupportive, draining, unrewarding and can be suffocating. Toxic friends stress you out and are generally one sided, whereby you don’t get back nearly half as much as you put in.

toxic friend

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Posted in Friendship, Relationships, Stress | 29 Comments »

Old Friends, New Friends

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Friends! I love my friends. Growing up as an only child was quite lonely. I had always wanted an older sibling, preferably an older brother. A brother to come home to who would beat me up, someone to try smoking with, and teach me the ropes in life. Well, no such sibling ever came before nor after me, so I made due with the next best thing… friends. Older friends, younger friends. I had my core group, but never stuck exclusively to them. I always had friends in many circles. Friends for “a reason and a season.” And it continued over the years. My high school friends, my college friends, my carpool friends, my golf friends, my work friends, friends through my children, my old friends, my new friends. I love them all. They all hold a very special place in my heart.

When thinking of the old ones, there’s nothing quite like your old friends. Your friends you have that history with… that connection with.Your best friend since elementary school. Your neighbor you grew up with that you still keep in touch with. You just have that bond, that deep history together.

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Posted in Friendship | 23 Comments »