You've Gotta Have F-R-I-E-N-D-S!

My teens have been spending a lot of time with their friends lately. Going to their houses...having them over at our house...spending the night...going out to movies, bowling, and other places...their friends are very important to them. Yes, some have moved away, and soon we will move, too--I THINK everything is going to go smoothly in the upcoming months. Some of their friends are old friends, but many are fairly recent friendships. As I watch them develop new friendships here before we move, I have decided that my teens are very flexible and can adapt to changes pretty well. I was the same way at their age--I moved often and always made new friends wherever I went. I think today's society is so mobile that teens today just seem to adapt better to new situations. There aren't many high school students who have been together since elementary school. There are some, but I think the majority have moved at least once or twice since kindergarten. Most of my teens' current friends have recently moved here within the last year or two. From what I can see, the area of Florida that we are moving to is very transitional--most of Florida is that way, actually. Very few "Floridians" are native to the area--most are transplants. I hope that this will help my teens make the transition after we move--if most of their peers are also new, or fairly new, to the area, it will be easier to "find their place." I don't foresee situations where longtime friends will exclude my teens because they are "the new kids." I only wish we could have moved at the very beginning of high school for my son--it would have been nice to start his freshman year there instead of his sophomore year. My daughter will be entering the 8th grade in the fall, so the timing isn't exactly perfect for her, either. I guess it is a compromise--waiting until her freshman year would make my son have to change schools for his junior year, and moving for his freshman year would make my daughter have to move for her 7th grade year (this year). I guess there just isn't an exactly perfect time to go for both of them. SO--I hope we move by this summer and they begin a new year in the fall at their new schools in Florida. And I hope they make new friends easily when they get there! :)