She's just not that into me..........

[LEMisdisappointed]

So why do i bother with her? A new mum came onto the scene at DDs school last year and I really liked her. She is pretty and really great company - being with her makes me feel good about myself which is weird because i suffer from self esteem issues and she is probably the picture of everything id like to be, but the opposite of me in reality.

She has recently split with her DH and I have tried to offer her kindness, invited her out, gone out of my way to talk to her at the school gates. She does come out with our small group of mums during school times but has now dropped off the radar for the summer, refused invites to events ith the kids etc. Although been to a few that i have been on.

She has always been friendly and shared quite alot about her situation etc, i really thought she would make a good friend and we could have a laugh etc.

Our DDs don't get on particularly well but they play together if we all meet up after school.

I do get the distinct - "im not interested in being your friend" vibes from her. This is her perogative of course and i do think she is the sort of person who can pick and choose friends etc, popular, a bit of a people magnet etc, has a group of friends who are very chic and a bit of the "in crowd" I am certainly not that and don't really want to be (i dont think)

So why don't i get the fecking message and stop asking her to things? not bother to wait to walk back with her from school etc??? I am probably coming across as a bit of a loon . There was someone else before this, who i felt the same about although i did all the running she blatantly was only interested if no one else avail or wanted my DP to do work in their house etc. She actually turned out to be not a very nice person in the end, other people saw this long before me - although i sort of knew. I am starting to feel this new woman is similar - not a cunt or anything but the sort of person who would drop someoen at the drop of a hat if a better offer came along. Saying that, she doesn't encourage a friendship.

Makes me sad really, i often feel not good enough.

[swallowedAfly]

oh and mumcat i did have that feeling with that preschool lady that she wasn't the kind of person i usually hung out with (swanky mercedes, always seemed super organised and grown up etc) which didn't make me think i don't want to hang out with you but maybe made me self conscious about why me or being able to be myself around her.

we're all bloody loons basically is my overall opinion on most things.

[IDontBowlOnShabbos]

LEM* Sorry!

[perfectstorm]

Crap, I'm sorry missbopeep - there was a second page I didn't see for some reason. . I didn't mean to bring it up when you'd already apologised.

[filee777]

This is a strange thread

Why is everyone being so harsh to the op, why is saying someone is beautiful a sexual thing?

Op some people like space, maybe her dd doesn't like to play with yours, maybe its something else entirely. I wouldn't worry about it judt focus your attentions on something else.

[scottishmummy]

I think this is actually a v interesting thread
Pleasant change from the usual dp losy the remote control shall I divorce him tat

[Chubfuddler]

Sounds like a massive difference in expectations of friendship.

Some adult women have friendships like the pair in beaches - longer lasting and more significant than a marriage. I'm just not like that - I'm far from socially awkward but I just don't have the time or energy to invest in friendships which need loads and loads of fuel. Basically if someone is going to get upset if we don't have coffee at least once a week, a shopping trip once a month and a girls weekend away once or twice a year it is best for us not to try to be friends.

I have some lovely friends and when they need me I am there with the wine, tissues and draft divorce petition or whatever. But I'm never going to be "besties" in that Monica and Rachel kind of way.

Perhaps she's like me. Back off and there could yet be a friendship in this.

[welshharpy]

Sorry Op, been reading this and it struck a cord. I gradually became friends with one of the mums at school, started with a quick chat in the morning etc but then quickly escalated to her waiting for me every day at the school gates at drop off & pick up times, inviting out dc over for tea etc (even though our kids do not get on particularly well).
She would then be texting me random stuff throughout the day and expecting to be included when I went out with other friends and when doing family stuff on weekends.
She came across as desperately needy and it got to the stage where my husband would roll his eyes everytime she texted as it would involve running an errand for her.
Needless to say I eventually stopped going out of my way at all for her and it was a huge relief to do so, needy people are draining without realising.
I still see her now and again and say hi but I am not her mother or husband and that is really what I think she was looking for, her mother was very distant and her marriage was love/sexless (that was what she told me anyway).
Sorry Op, dont want to be harsh but neediness is a huge turn off, true friendships are ones that do not have to be forced.

[ninah]

If she's just split up with her dh she may not have a lot of emotional energy going spare at the moment. Which would make neediness even less appealing.

[mumat39]

Swallowedafly, don't worry it wasn't me!

I have issues with low self esteem, and also over analyse things too much sometimes. So a simple 'no I can't I'm actually busy' for one person would probably have me what that means . So i reckon your loon theory definitely applies to me!

[themaltesefalcon]

OP, you've been so pleasant and calm in the face of some pretty brutal honesty on here.

You are clearly a nice person and I hope you find a way to forget about this woman, who doesn't really sound all that terrific a prospect for friendship, and love yourself a bit more.

[swallowedAfly]

glad it wasn't you mumat. well if you reckon your self esteem is that low and you still manage to ask people if they want to meet up or reach out for friendships then you are a very brave woman who should give herself a pat on the back for having the guts to still put yourself out there rather than bash yourself for finding it difficult itms.

[GColdtimer]

There could be various reasons why she is behaving as she is. She may not have the emotional energy for a new friendship. She may sense your admiration and be worried about being on a pedestal. She may already have "enough" friends or she might be like my sil and deliberately keeps her distance because she hates to be organised or pinned down in anyway. Or she just might not be very nice whatever the reason it doesn't really matter. The relationship is not doing you any favours as it is making you feel bad. It's like you are the girl in the uncool gang at school who had a bit of attention from one of the in crowd and is feeling grateful and craving more. Even if you did become friends, it doesn't sound like this would be an equal relationship so you do need to back off for your own good. You do sound lovely and it is hard when you are looking for friendship.

[theMovedStone]

OP
You said she has split up recently with her DH
So maybe this's a reason she acts the way she does

Can you just try to talk to her more openly
I realy think that very often lack of the straightforward comunication can cause a lot of misunderstanding and confusion

[swallowedAfly]

tbh in the 'what to do now' bit, rather than the analyse the hell out of the poor OP business (you've taken it so well OP and i hope i haven't offended you in any way), i'd say one last attempt that puts the ball in her court. just say hello next time you see her, that it would be lovely to catch up sometime and you appreciate she's got a lot on her plate at the minute but 'you know where i am if you ever need anything or want to catch up'.

you lay yourself open one last time and you leave it up to her knowing you've said all you can.

aside from the girl crush bit i do think you're probably picking up on some need in her for a friend and to talk things through or something that you are reaching out to but she's not taking. so you put it out there one last time and it's up to her.

[ALittleStranger]

This whole thread reads like a thread about romantic relationships, right down to people telling the OP she's had a lucky escape.

I think the fact that the woman felt the need to say the OP "wasn't her type" when they discussed same sex attraction suggests she did interpret it as a partial come on.

[TeddyPickleStick]

I've read many of your threads over the years OP and the reason for your low self esteem is due to the hideous way your DP treats you. You've been on the receiving end of some awful stuff from him yet you now say its just usual ups and downs. Didn't you split with him recently ?

Until you finally get rid of him I think you'll always feel slightly below par.

[TalkingintheDark]

LEM, have you looked into where these feelings of not being good enough come from? Specifically, what was/is your relationship with your mother like?

You're asking "why don't I get the message and stop asking her to things" (asking for her friendship, essentially) and, given that you clearly know on a logical level that this isn't going anywhere, there must be a deeper emotional-logic reason for it, IMO.

Maybe you're playing out a much more important relationship issue (eg the one with your mother, perhaps) in this situation, without realising it, and that's why you can't make yourself behave in the rational way you want to. I do think you might be projecting something onto her and that unconsciously you are trying to gain her approval/liking because there's a need in you that was never met somehow, and you've set her up as someone who can (or more likely can't, but you wish she would) meet that need.

Just something you might like to explore if you're interested in looking at how relationship dynamics work, the reasons why we do things that on the surface don't make any sense.

The book club is a great idea too!

[swallowedAfly]

if it's true that your relationship with your partner is that bad then that may be the bit of her that 'you wish you were like' and want to draw strength from seeing as she's split up with hers and i think you said he's a bit of a shit.

[LEMisdisappointed]

swallowed, I have a good relationship with DP, we went through a rough patch but things have been good for a long time now. He certainly doesn't treat me hideously