Girls night in

I thoroughly enjoyed the company of a bunch of my friends last night. We’ve all lived in Gargunnock at one time or another (most of us still do) and we all have children that have grown up, or are still growing up, in the village. We sat round my kitchen table, drank some wine, ate some chilli, drank some more wine, moved through to the lounge, sang some songs and - in between all of that – did a fair amount of blethering.  

Any group of friends that has children as its common bond will, without question, have its ups and downs, and the women that make up my wee group of village friends is no different. We have diverse attitudes to many things: we have different opinions on the boundaries we set for our kids; we approach teenage issues from completely different angles; we have different opinions on ‘the best’ type of education; we have different, or no, religious beliefs; we have different opinions on 'the best' sports for our children to participate in and we exhibit varying degrees of wine snobbery (starting with me, who insists on only drinking wine that’s red, white or pink in colour).

So, when we get together, sparks can sometimes fly and raw nerves can sometimes be struck but - with a general mutual respect for our differences - we can also sympathise with each other's concerns, offer our supporting shoulders and share a bundle of laughs. That's how it was last night, and it made me feel good.