by Tara Pringle Jefferson
As a married 23-year-old, I don’t have a lot of peers. I can count the number of married friends on one finger. I obviously don’t expect all my friends to be married because ““ duh! ““ who gets married so early anyway? LOL.
While it hasn’t really been too much of an issue, I do get tired of hearing my friends say how good I have it because I’m married. In my head, I usually think, “Yeah, well, marriage has a lot of challenges on its own”...” I’m happy to be married, but it’s not the walk in the park my single friends would like to think. My one married friend feels the same way.
There are a lot of differences once you get married ““ your time/money/thoughts are not your own, you have to be considerate of your partner’s feelings, etc.
But friendships shouldn’t be based on marital status, but on mutual interests, compatibility, admired character traits. To restrict your group of friends to solely single/married people based on your current place in life would be foolish ““ right?
Weigh in ““ are most of your friends married or single? Is that intentional? Do you find you have more in common with people who are in the same place in life as you?
Tara Pringle Jefferson is a freelance writer living in Ohio with her husband and two children. Visit her blog, www.theyoungmommylife.com, to read more of her observations about life, motherhood and love.