Helping the kids to make new friends...

This is not a question but a reaction to Suzanne's post. I do not believe that friendships are possible only with matches. What a boring, insular world that would be! My husband and I, for example, come from two very different backgrounds. Thank goodness we were both people interested, even eager, to look beyond our circles. I know you were talking about intellectual matches but the principle, IMHO, is the same. In fact, my children have often made friends with children who offered something they lacked or something that clicked with one part of them: an outgoing effervescence, athletic ability, a stronger creative drive. My best friend in elementary school was a girl who happily sailed through school with C's and who was a sunny, social leader who complemented my more serious, quiet personality. We were close friends all the way through high school and beyond. I still look to her to bring perspective and humor to my life.