"Wanna Be My Best Friend?"

Wanna Be My Best Friend?


Published 9.22.10 Cass Lake Times

By Allan Olson

Most everyone either has or wants a best friend. Someone they can share their thoughts and secrets with, or just hang out with, and have a good time and not worry about what they think.

I’m not exactly sure I can determine when this started, but my youngest three children have this need to be someone’s or everyone’s best friend. I think my stubborn, angelic two-year-old is perhaps the worst.

She came to me one day and said, “You wanna be my best friend?”

Perplexed, I really didn’t know how to answer her. “Um, sure,” I said. Well, I hadn’t had my de-briefing on the latest happenings with the kids, and was totally not prepared to answer her question.

“Daddy’s my best friend,” she told the siblings. I think I realized my mistake then.

Isn’t that what we, as parents, want? We want our children to be our best friends. We want them to confide us so we can hopefully prevent them from doing something un-smart.

Well, my answer wasn’t the most brilliant move, because then they all wanted to be my best friend. They tried that question on their mother, who was much better prepared to answer than I was.

“No,” she said. “I will be your mommy.”

Now I hear the answer I would have liked to have known earlier.

I mean, it’s hardly possible to be their “best friend” and have to discipline them at the same time. Lucky for me, they have short memories.

I’ve been hit on that question many times since, and sometimes by all three, several times a day.

“Wanna be my best friend?” they ask. “I’ll be your daddy, I tell them.” Thankfully, that satisfies them at the moment.

But that little question brings out lots of arguments, laughter, taunting and sometimes even fights in our house.

“Wanna be my best friend?” they will ask one of their siblings. “No,” will sometimes be the answer, and then comes, “Daddy, Abi (or another sibling) won’t be my best friend, and tears will fall, and the little broken-hearted child will ask another person until they get the answer they seek.

“Wanna be my best friend?”

“Yes,” is the correct answer, and when they get that answer, it’s all laughter and smiles. “Daddy, Abi (or insert name) is my best friend!” and off they run, full of excitement.

This game generally is an everyday occurrence, and I’ve learned that I need to be prepared, lest I get caught in the spotlight again. I’ve heard just about every name, from their friends at daycare to the daycare provider, to cousins, grandma and grandpa etc. Once in awhile, one s ibling will torment the other by saying that “so-and-so is my best friend and not yours” and then it’s back to some old argument about this person said this or that.

Thankfully, they’re not old enough for Facebook

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Hunting Season to Remember

Image
A Hunting Season to Remember By Allan Olson The orange clad army headed into the woods this past weekend in search of the mighty white tail to attempt to fill the freezer with some tasty venison and I was no exception to this party. I too was clad in orange and out on the mighty hunt. Every year there are new stories to tell, old ones to bring up and memories made, some deer seasons for me, after over 20 years of hunting have faded into the background, one year blurring with another, not remembering which year I shot what deer or if I shot a deer. Of course there are a few years  stand out more than others and some are just a blur altogether. However, I find it hard to believe that anything will top this year’s remarkable deer season. This year, I had the honor of bringing Nikolai with me. Not just to sit in the stand, but to actually hunt, he was going to have the ability of harvesting a deer also. Recently he completed his gun safety certification and he wa...
Read more
Image
Thank you for being our friend Frey Olson May 19, 2018 - April 26, 2024 By Allan Olson 4.26.24 Thank you for being our friend, thank you for making us your forever home, if we could’ve saved you, we would’ve. Losing our four legged friends is never easy, in our house they aren’t “just a pet” they are our family. Frey, our nearly six year old English Mastiff came into our lives in August of 2018 and crossed over the rainbow bridge to be with others before him on April 26, 2024. Frey was our gentle giant, he was our protector, our laughter and most importantly I think it’s more than safe to say, he was Alivia’s best friend. Have you ever seen a teenager and a Mastiff sharing a twin size bed - or perhaps more aptly put the teenager getting what’s left of the bed when he’s in it. Or perhaps a giant of a dog, staring at her from the doorway of the bedroom saying, “it’s bedtime,” while she’s playing a game or watching something.  He was taught to react to “who’s here” or the alert of the...
Read more

Thankful for Family

Thankful For Family By Allan Olson published 11-24-10 Cass Lake Times Eat until I can’t eat anymore is the plan for me this Thursday. This is likely the case for many others as well. The food that will be prepared is just one of many things to be thankful for this week. I can honestly say I’m thankful for a lot of things in my life. I’m especially thankful for my beautiful little family. Do I always feel overwhelmed with joy while dealing with the everyday tasks of working and raising four children? I would be lying if I said yes. My children are great kids. They are great at making me smile with their questions and antics. However, they are also great at driving me up a wall. Asking them to help clean a room sometimes and it’s like you put them in a torture chamber by daring to ask for a little help cleaning up the mess they made. Other times they are willing, eager partners ready to help with whatever task you need them to. Of course, there are also those times when ...
Read more