DEAR ANDREA...
Dear Andrea,
Sometimes it’s hard to get along with my best friend. I love her, but let’s face it, we’re two different people. How can we stay friends when we fight so much?
Sometimes it’s good to come up with guidelines to help us remember how to treat each other in good times and bad times. Here’s a bunch of guidelines. The two of you can pick out the ones that will work best for your unique relationship. Make up new ones, too. If you hit a rough patch, take a look at the guidelines and see where you went wrong and how you can fix it.
- Help each other
- Share your honest opinions
- Make time to hang out
- Don’t compare yourselves to one another
- Work hard to compromise
- Be a good listener
- Don’t let a boy get in-between you
- Don’t be too sensitive
- Do everything you can to avoid hurting each other
- Deal with the issue at hand – don’t let it go on and on
- Trust each other
- Treat each other loyally – stick up for each other
- Treat each other respectfully – don’t insult each other or talk about the other person
- Treat each other without blame – don’t blame her for things you’re really responsible for
- Treat each other equally – both people have a say; don’t make her decisions for her
- Remember you both have a right to a bad day
- Remember you both have a right to other friends
- You both have the right to choose not to be with each other – for a short while or even a long while
If you have a question for Andrea, please email it to info@thisismeinc.org. Please type “Dear Andrea” in the subject line. Be sure to include your first name, hometown, and age.

