When my 14-year-old son was younger, he used to say that he wished he had a friend who shared more of his interests. He had friends in musical theater because smart quirky kids like my son fit in really well because there were a lot of smart, quirky fun loving kids in the group. They shared some of his interests, but he knew he could not talk to them about a lot of the other things he was interested in.
My homeschooled son had to get used to the lonliness. He sees no other kids now because he had to drop out of musical theater for a while for health reasons. He is staying positive about everything. He says at least he doesn't have to pretend to like things that most other kids like. He can like what he likes and learn what he wants to learn. He has online friends who share his interests. His dad and I enjoy talking to him about the things he is interested in because well, they are interesting. I find talking to my son a lot more interesting than talking to my relatives who only talk about football and other things I am not interested in at all. He was always very quick witted but kids his age did not get his jokes because they did not listen to the news and read as much as he did. His dad, his sister and I got his jokes. His adult sister talks to him every day because she enjoys talking to him. His grandfather has some similar interests and lives next door. We went to the history museum today so they talked about history and the latest political news and about the economics book he is reading, and other things that I don't think most of the kids his age talk about. I don't think age matters to my son. He always liked talking to adults. Even at six. But he learned quickly that a lot of adults don't like to hear the ideas and opinions of kids. Kids are not supposed to listen to the news and be interested in what is going on in the world. I still wish he could have found a place to discuss openly things that he wanted to talk about that he didn't want to talk about with his parents or sister.
I think he did get used to being alone and enjoys being alone now. I am the one that can't seem to get used to it.
