My comment focused on children because that’s the topic at hand; building a strong long-time bond with a significant other (or others, if you’re so inclined) can be another avenue (often less reliable) of attaining a dependable support group. The comment wasn’t meant to be exhaustive.
Personally I’d never put a spouse in the same category as “friends” in this context, but of course you may categorize whichever way you like. (For example, I’d agree that if you count children as friends, then friends would always be preferable, since (friends including children) is strictly more support than (just children). Such trivial labelling tennis wouldn’t change the underlying dynamics, of course.)
My comment focused on children because that’s the topic at hand; building a strong long-time bond with a significant other (or others, if you’re so inclined) can be another avenue (often less reliable) of attaining a dependable support group. The comment wasn’t meant to be exhaustive.
Personally I’d never put a spouse in the same category as “friends” in this context, but of course you may categorize whichever way you like. (For example, I’d agree that if you count children as friends, then friends would always be preferable, since (friends including children) is strictly more support than (just children). Such trivial labelling tennis wouldn’t change the underlying dynamics, of course.)