How Do You Stay Friends When Everything Changes?

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Check out Part 1 of our convo: https://youtu.be/mUWjdOu6y5w

Support some fellow homeschool alum and grab a copy of Mixed-Up Metaphors: https://a.co/d/0bueQkeT

Wait no longer, part two of my conversation about friendship with Cari, Jenève, and Noah is here! Find out what happens to friendships as we grow up, move away, get married, have kids, change our beliefs, and become different versions of ourselves. We talk about how adult friendship often looks less like perfectly planned nights out and more like helping a friend clean the house, running errands together, or simply eating pizza and playing cards. We also dig into why shared values and the willingness to let people change can matter more than having identical beliefs. You’ll also here as we compare our homeschool experiences, talk about AWANA and Adventures in Odyssey, share creative projects we made together, and reflected on some of the "glow ups" we've experienced since leaving homeschooling. Ultimately, this conversation comes back to one thing: find the people who will keep showing up as you grow and change.

*In this episode, we talk about:* • How homeschool communities can create friendships that feel more like family. • Why some childhood friendships naturally deepen while others don’t become close until adulthood. • Maintaining friendships across distance, college, relationships, and major life changes. • The strange pressure many homeschoolers experienced around boys and girls being friends and the assumption that friendship must mean dating. • How purity culture and fear of romantic relationships affected the way we understood attraction, dating, and physical affection. • Why protecting kids from every painful experience can leave them unprepared for adulthood — and how supportive friendships can give young people a safe place to learn from difficult experiences. • The healing that can happen when adult children and their parents finally have honest conversations about the past.

*Wanna Join Book Club?*

Grab a copy of Educated by Tara Westover: https://tarawestover.com/book

And lastly, if you want to join our virtual Zoom meeting on August 29th 1pm EST - 10am PST, sign-up here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/bxCrsDpgTFGNvsWVgVdHXA

*Check Out My Previous Episodes With Cari, Jenève, and Noah!* • Cari: https://youtu.be/8cizKkNyLSo?si=5Y6IScdbDOnio0DJ • Jenève: https://youtu.be/bxf9T5GFk4A?si=_eoI2xsjBCgi1ewV • Noah: https://youtu.be/trh9iD3SvvA?si=8PTTowtUtKWG78se

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*Chapters* 00:00 Welcome Back To The Ex-Homeschoolers Club 00:22 Ways You Can Support The Show 01:04 Why Adult Friendships Are Hard 02:06 Leaning Into Mom Friends 05:10 Errands As Hangouts 08:47 Friendship Phases And Adapting 10:17 Kids As A New Hobby 12:02 Values Keep Friends Close 14:54 Sticking Through Big Changes 17:58 Homeschool Similarities 20:55 Mime Memories And Odyssey 22:15 Nostalgia Versus Deconstruction 24:54 Mime Confidence And Showman 26:03 Showman Song Tangent 26:52 Their Book Plug 27:54 Mixed Metaphors Origin 29:37 How The Book Works 30:23 Old Songs And Videos 31:09 Three Hour Movie Story 33:21 Creating Together Lessons 35:20 Homeschool Glow Up Talk 36:53 Glow Up Stories 46:42 Wrapping Up And Community