YOUR FIRST BEST FRIEND IS THE ONE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET

People say that you never forget your first love, but every age has a special person and the same can also be said for your first best friend. From the day they are born, children are used to living in the family or being with their peers whose parents may be friends, but the emotion of making their first best friend on their own, is nothing short of a victory.

Whether it is at the beach because you are spending all day long with your beach-umbrella neighbours or at the nursery where there are other children of the same age, finding someone you feel close to is not difficult. Although they are just children, they know how to recognize another child with whom they have things in common, who understands them and will stand by them and with whom they enjoy playing. But what does finding your first best friend actually mean?

Finding oneself alone with other children, seeing mummy wave goodbye and being encouraged to go and play, is not an easy moment and very often makes a child feel lost raising questions on how to relate to others or overcome embarrassment and shyness. All these questions end naturally when your child finds someone to play with and in whom he or she recognizes itself. Very often finding a best friend means playing the same game without arguing or because the other child has something in common with you or because we tease each other with affection. This is very important because it is when we begin to experience empathy. We see ourselves in the other child and we “put ourselves in his or her shoes” understanding the interests we have in common and moments of discomfort. Even for adults, feeling that others understand us is a beautiful and rewarding experience, and for children it is no different.

It is a very important moment above all because we start to understand the rules of communication and how to behave with others. We start to understand how to behave in certain circumstances, what it means to hurt someone and even what it means to make up just with a big smile. Just as important is self-confidence. When two children become friends they feel reciprocally accepted and this helps to develop their personality and confidence. At that moment they feel that they don't have to pretend to be what they are not if they want to play and that perhaps they are the only ones in the world who like watching “Pigiamask”.

Even for mothers and fathers, however, it is an important moment because they start to meet people with whom perhaps they have very little in common, but for the sake of their child they spend hours together while the children play. If, on the other hand, there is a connection, the relationship is much simpler, although the first doubts may arise, wondering how one should behave. For example, one of the classic questions when you are invited to your best friend's house is: should I bring something?  The only thing we can suggest is to do what you think is best. Some things, just like the first friendships of children, come naturally, without too many pretensions showing themselves for what they are and in this case the same thing applies. So all you can do is be yourself, teaching your children by example to do the same.