Moving from being acquaintances to being friends

[julietdarling]

Shortly after the birth of DD 11 months ago, we moved house to a completely new area.

I have made a few new friends who are lovely, but they are all mums too so at the weekend/evenings we all go back to our "family" life.

How do you take the next step from a friend you meet for coffee to one where you and your DP are going round to theirs for meals etc???

Bite the bullet. You invite them to YOURS first. See what the response is. Maybe she/her dp will not be interested. If so, you revert back to being coffee buddies. If so, they come round to dinner. And then you hope to be invited back to dinner at theirs.
What have you got to lose by asking ?

In the same position JD! I am going to start asking them over en famille for sunday lunches. Today one of them suggested a night out... so maybe getting there slowly.

The good thing is being new to the area so there is no "shame" in wanting to make new friends ifysim. It is not as if you are a no friends couple just you are new to the area and want local friends so you dont spend every weekend travelling the country.

I was like this when we moved here, had lots of people for playdates etc, but not adult friendships. A group of us now meet up for dinner/drinks, you do just have to plunge straight in.

Why don't you suggest meeting for coffee on the weekend with the kids as an introduction. After meeting a few times you could casually suggest a night out just teh adults.

I think it takes time - you can't force friendships between adults like you can kids (ie arranging playdates) I agree and take the step in asking them over - what about a weekend get together at a farm or park?