When Ellie was at primary school she never had a best friend, she never went to birthday parties or sleepovers. She struggled to fit in.
Up until about year 4 Ellie played with the boys, they accepted her and she had the best time at school. Then the boys got to an age where they decided girls were not cool and Ellie was left with no one. All the girls in the class had already formed their friendship groups and Ellie was the strange little girl who loved football, climbing and running about in the mud.
A couple of years ago Ellie was devastated that she wasn't invited to a party. All the girls in her class, about 13 of them were. It was implied that Ellie and another girl were left out because they were "different". Ellie was being assessed for Autism at the time and the other girl was already diagnosed. It broke her heart and mine too.
She struggled through the last years in primary school with the hope that when she started secondary school there would be new people and new friends to make.
Thankfully we were right and there was lots of new friends to make. I won't name them. I will just use their initials. M, K, I, T, K & N!
She had her first party invite a couple of weeks ago and it made her day, probably her year!! One of her closest friends invited her and a couple of other girls to go to one of the trampoline parks in Newcastle. She was so excited!!
I was a bit worried to start with as the girl asked if Ellie wanted to go and to ask me if she was allowed. Ellie said there was no official invite on paper and the girls mam would pick her up. I would have liked to have seen something in writing but I needn't have worried. Early last week the paper invite came and there was a phone number to text I's mam to let her know Ellie would be going. She sounded lovely. Phew!
We of course had to go shopping for a birthday present. I saw tons of things which tween girls would love but Ellie said no to everything. After looking around the shops for nearly two hours I had to say enough is enough, we either go back and buy something we have seen or find something in Wilko's. Thankfully they had some lovely stationery. Pretty but not too girly, not pink, it was practical and didn't break the bank. We also got her some sweets. Celebration's because there is bound to be something she likes in them and a little bath bomb set. It is so easy to buy for your own children but for other children which you don't know is a struggle.
Ellie got picked up last Saturday just before half past 2 and off she went. She came back just before 6pm and had the best time! She was taken out for tea and most importantly the girl loved her presents.
When she got home she was exhausted. All that bouncing really tired her out. She was in bed early and ached for a couple of days but she said it was worth it.
I love that Ellie has finally found a group of friends where she is included. She is such a happier child for having friends. This is all we have wanted for her for years.
Up until about year 4 Ellie played with the boys, they accepted her and she had the best time at school. Then the boys got to an age where they decided girls were not cool and Ellie was left with no one. All the girls in the class had already formed their friendship groups and Ellie was the strange little girl who loved football, climbing and running about in the mud.
A couple of years ago Ellie was devastated that she wasn't invited to a party. All the girls in her class, about 13 of them were. It was implied that Ellie and another girl were left out because they were "different". Ellie was being assessed for Autism at the time and the other girl was already diagnosed. It broke her heart and mine too.
She struggled through the last years in primary school with the hope that when she started secondary school there would be new people and new friends to make.
Thankfully we were right and there was lots of new friends to make. I won't name them. I will just use their initials. M, K, I, T, K & N!
She had her first party invite a couple of weeks ago and it made her day, probably her year!! One of her closest friends invited her and a couple of other girls to go to one of the trampoline parks in Newcastle. She was so excited!!
I was a bit worried to start with as the girl asked if Ellie wanted to go and to ask me if she was allowed. Ellie said there was no official invite on paper and the girls mam would pick her up. I would have liked to have seen something in writing but I needn't have worried. Early last week the paper invite came and there was a phone number to text I's mam to let her know Ellie would be going. She sounded lovely. Phew!
We of course had to go shopping for a birthday present. I saw tons of things which tween girls would love but Ellie said no to everything. After looking around the shops for nearly two hours I had to say enough is enough, we either go back and buy something we have seen or find something in Wilko's. Thankfully they had some lovely stationery. Pretty but not too girly, not pink, it was practical and didn't break the bank. We also got her some sweets. Celebration's because there is bound to be something she likes in them and a little bath bomb set. It is so easy to buy for your own children but for other children which you don't know is a struggle.
Ellie got picked up last Saturday just before half past 2 and off she went. She came back just before 6pm and had the best time! She was taken out for tea and most importantly the girl loved her presents.
When she got home she was exhausted. All that bouncing really tired her out. She was in bed early and ached for a couple of days but she said it was worth it.
I love that Ellie has finally found a group of friends where she is included. She is such a happier child for having friends. This is all we have wanted for her for years.
I love this story. Glad your daughter had a wonderful time. 2 hours to choose a birthday present though? I am glad I have boys who don't seem to care about these things ;-)
ReplyDeleteAww so pleased for her! Our little one is only two and we've already experienced the not getting invited to party's by kids at nursery. You break your heart for them
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for her. I was exactly the same with Olivia and I was so pleased she made friends and has a lovely group of girls to support her now.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that Ellie has found a good group of friends. It makes a big difference. My youngest loves the trampolining parks. It really tires them out. :) #MMBC
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad she has found a lovely group of friends. Friends you make at high school can be the best!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad she has friends and was included in this. I hated the whole party thing of Primary school. The amount of times I'd see girls hand out invites and glance at Violet's face and see the hopeful look on her face. When she didn't get one she would look crushed. It's awful when they are left out. I'm glad Ellie had such a good time :O)
ReplyDeleteHow did I miss this? What fantastic news that Ellie has made so many friends and is finally being included. It must mean that she is getting over her social anxiety and hopefully it means that her future will be brighter and full of friends and fun times like these. xx
ReplyDeleteOh this made me smile! So glad that Ellie has made lots of new friends and that she had a fab time at the party.
ReplyDeleteHere's to many more fun times with her friends. 😊 x
It's so difficult to hear that our kids aren't making friends. We don't have it quite as badly as this but I do worry that my eldest (8) doesn't have any close friends - she just floats between groups. It means, for things like parties, she sort of falls through the cracks because she's not associated with any particular group of friends.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm so glad to hear that Ellie is thriving in her new school and finally finding her tribe! And congratulations because someone enjoyed this post so much, they added it to the BlogCrush linky for you. Hurray! Feel free to bob over and grab your "I've been featured" blog badge #blogcrush
This is absolutely heart-warming! It’s sad how some kids actively exclude others and their parents don’t put a stop to it. My kid, now that they are older, has started to actively include children who don’t have a peer group. Even their teacher commented on it. However, it’s up to us parents to teach, encourage and reinforce this behaviour. 😃
ReplyDelete