I was pondering if virtual/ social media friends are exceeding the number of actual friends I have? To clarify, I love my circle of friends very much and this is in no way a reflection on them! As I get older I have noticed my circle of immediate friends getting smaller (the ones that you would call or text if you had a bad day or are just looking for someone to go shopping with). I take full responsibility for this as my children take away the ability to drop everything and go out at short notice. If I get an invite anyway there is a process I have to follow before I can commit - is it child appropriate, do I need a babysitter, who have I not asked to babysit for a while and would be happy to help me out, could I get an all night babysitter or do I have to be back at a reasonable time to let them go home etc. Thanks to social media I haven't lost touch completely with older friends which I like as I still feel involved in their lives, albeit in a lazy voyeuristic way! Over