When Adult Friendships Feel Hard: The Loneliness of Motherhood (and How to Make Real Connections Again)

Making friends as a mom is awkward. It’s like dating, but with diaper bags and goldfish crackers in your purse. You smile at someone at the playground, make small talk about nap schedules, maybe even swap numbers, only to have the momentum fizzle into ghosted texts and “we should hang out sometime” that never happens.

Meanwhile, you’re craving more than just another “hey mama” DM. You want real friendship. The kind where you can say, “I love my kids, but they’re driving me up the wall,” and the other person doesn’t judge—you both just laugh and pass the coffee.

But what no one talks about enough is how hard it feels when those friendships don’t exist. Or when they do, but they’ve changed. Or when it feels like you’re surrounded by people but still lonely.

If that’s you? You’re not broken. You’re not weird. And you’re definitely not the only one.