Beth once received handwritten letters from would-be friends outlining her personality flaws. So naturally, we’re talking about friendships — childhood nostalgia, adult reality, and how we model being good friends for our kids.

In this episode of ATDO, we dive into the weird, wonderful and sometimes slightly brutal world of friendships — from the wholesome neighbourhood friendships of our childhoods to the awkward reality of navigating relationships as grown-ups.

Jess reflects on the nostalgic magic of growing up in a street full of kids — rollerblading until dark, knocking on doors to see who could play, and the kind of friendships that felt effortless. The kind we secretly hope our kids get to experience too.

But friendships aren’t always that simple.

Beth also shares a truly unhinged childhood experience: receiving multiple handwritten letters from would-be friends… carefully outlining her personality flaws. Character building? Possibly. Traumatic? Also possibly.

We talk about:

• Why making and maintaining friendships as adults feels harder than it used to

• The nostalgia of neighbourhood friendships and unsupervised street play

• The mortifying experience of being critiqued via handwritten friendship letters

• How motherhood changes the way we show up for friends

• The importance of modelling healthy friendships for our kids

• Why we want our children to grow up knowing how to be good friends — not just how to have them

• The small ways we can nurture meaningful friendships in busy adult life

Because if we want our kids to grow up with strong, supportive friendships… they need to see what that looks like.

And ideally it involves fewer handwritten personality assessments.