The greatest gift I can give my daughter is belief in #ThePowerofFriendship

This is a sponsored post written in partnership with Friendship Dairies® 

As a mother I know my every move is being carefully recorded and dissected by my daughter; my mini-me, my living, breathing shadow. Whereas when she was younger, and more easily distracted by shiny objects; i.e. her attention could be diverted by a candy necklace or a new video, I wasn’t as concerned that my every action would become a finely etched memory in her consciousness. But as she’ gotten older and more entrenched in my personal life, she’s begun to intensely critique my friendships. I get it; she’s trying to size up her friendships and compare her social interactions with mine.

While I’d rather stick pins in my eyes than have to deal with her teen tales of minutiae like; who sat next to who at lunch and what this one said about that one I know part of my job as a mother is helping her to navigate one of the most important aspects of her life- her relationships with other women.

And I think the biggest lesson she learned about the power of friendship was when she saw how a friend of mine literally went above and beyond to help me break out of my comfort zone and explore my hidden talents.

Let me set the scene for you… I  have always wanted to audition as a voice over actress but you know motherhood and real life somehow got in the way and took over. And of course I don’t regret any of the choices I’ve made or the roads I haven’t traveled because the road I am currently on is where I know I am meant to be. I never told my daughter about this secret and basically thought it was one I would take to the grave, that is until an old friend from my college days recently moved back to NYC and friend requested me on facebook. This friend was an old roommate who helped me cobble together the rent money on her waitressing salary and my very meager editorial assistant one. This friend was the kind of person who even though I hadn’t seen her in a good 15 years when we started talking it was like a RIVER FLOWING- it felt like no time had passed and we were back in our twenties eating egg drop soup for dinner because that was all we could afford and waxing poetically about our dreams and fears into the wee hours of the morning. ONLY this friend knew I have always secretly harbored a desire to at least try my hand at voice overs but fast forward to 2017 I was reluctant to try because a) I thought I would fail miserably and b) because I thought at 44 years old they would LAUGH at me.

Fast forward to my old friend and I deciding to meet for lunch. And I brought my daughter along with me because I needed some street cred that only this old friend and her energy and myriad of experiences could provide to help me officially be labeled a COOL MOM. Little did I know the meeting place for our lunch was actually a voice over coach’s studio and my friend had arranged for me to take a session and make a demo tape.  All I can say was that in between tears streaming down my face and hugs for this friend who knew I needed to do this in the worst possible way- nothing could have been more wonderful than having my daughter bear witness to all of it. All the emotion, the magic of new beginnings, the power of this old friend to re-enter my orbit after years and transform my present into something totally unexpected and help me do something totally unexpected. Of course I was terrified, and yet having this woman by my side – as my teen watched on- I went for it.  And I flubbed and I made mistakes- but I did it. I made a demo tape.

Bottom line- watching this beautiful act of selflessness between my friend and I – I truly believe was instrumental in  helping my teen to see that with a great friend by your side and her belief in you- anything is possible! I think because my daughter doesn’t have a sister, I  want to ensure that I arm her with the tools to develop life-long friendships with other women. And this is why I love About Friendship Dairies and their most recent video   about The True Power of Friendship- which can ultimately transform us in the best possible way!

Have you ever had a friend help you get over a hurdle? Share your moments of friendship with me in the comments and check out Friendship Dairies® www.friendshipdairies.com which has been making high-quality cottage cheese, sour cream, farmer cheese and buttermilk for the last 100 years. As a product, they have integrity. As a brand, they hold together, stay true to who they are, and encourage others to do the same. They’re purveyors of friendship and believe that friends open each other up to new experiences. They turn their loyalists into advocates, and their easy, crowd-pleasing recipes prove just how surprisingly fun sharing friendship can be.