The result

I got an e-mail back from Cookie's mom. Cookie would love to come to our house again. She suggested two times next week. Sigh. Actually neither will work for us. I replied back with alternate dates for the next week. Like Ami said, at least I'll know what they are doing if they are here.

Thank you all for your comments, suggestions and insights. I really do appreciate them all!

Melyssa, I wish you lived in my town! I'd love to give our girls the chance to see if they hit it off! We could have coffee and let them play. Gossip about the large families. :) Danette, you too. Your daughter's a lot older than Violet, but hey a tree hugging vegetarian sounds like a great role model for my kid!

Piggy, I think most of the time Violet is happy with Red and Tinkerbell. It seems like one more might round it out and fill in the gaps though. She does get bored. Yesterday she tried to make friends with a stray cat. Maybe she needs a dog.

Dana, I think you are right, it just isn't occurring to them that an invite to their house would mean so much. I know many of the families we meet either have a set of friends already in place or the siblings just play together. I'll keep suggesting things to the families of the girls she really likes.

Sabrina, they all drop their kids off and flee for everything. In fact, if you hang out it is considered weird. Girl Scout meetings, classes, gymnastics, playdates, parties, there's never a parent to be seen. That makes it harder to set things up with kids she meets at them too. The parents swoop in at the end, grab the kid and they are gone.

By the way, I hang out. In part because Violet has had bad experiences pretty much everywhere. But also because I'm lazy. I'd spent most of the time she's there driving back home and turning around again. Have they seen the price of gas lately? I'm over in the corner with the latest issue of Home Education Magazine.

Maria, you are right, they are busy too. And it probably doesn't help that I insist that Violet gets the downtime she needs. What I mean to say, it doesn't help our case to meet more kids. It definitely makes living with Violet much more pleasant!

Mare (I refuse to call you old and grey!), you are right too. I had Violet call Red after school today to see if she could come over. She had a family obligation, but I spoke with Red's mom and made tentative plans for them to play Sunday afternoon. And I e-mailed Tinkerbell's mom invites for a playdate and a sleepover (it will be the first time we've tried that with them). Maybe Violet has just already found her few close friends.

It is probably more a problem in my head than Violet's. I've been trying to make her realize that most people only have a few close friends and many acquaintances. She sees public school friends inviting 20 people to their birthday parties and thinks they are all close. I try to explain that most of them are there because they've invited the whole class or the whole Brownie troop, but I'm not sure she believes me.

Thanks again for all the support and words of wisdom. I really appreciate it!