good friends

With three children, the oldest now nearing age 15, I've been around a lot of kids over the past decade and a half. I generally just really like kids and most of my kids' friends, I like. There have been a few over the years whom I didn't like having around and a few others (like Herbert, below), whose PARENTS are so irritating thatI have avoided contact with the kids.

But there have been some kid-friends over the years whom I love so much that I'd adopt them if I could. This weekend we've had two of them in the house: Sydney and Max.

Sydney is Jane;s best friend. They are only 6 weeks apart in age andoriginally met at age 5 riding at the same barn. Sydney and her brother (one of the most gifted riders I've ever met) eventually left our barn when their mom decided to start her own. They live an hour away and Sydney is homeschooled, while Jane goes to school. It would have been easy to let that friendship fizzle out, but it's been clear to me since the girls were tiny that this was a friendship that will endure for the rest of their lives. Plus, I adore Syd's mom and consider her one of my best friends even though we only see each other every month or two.