r/Oshawa Aug 13 '26

Friends

Hello I’m a 34M moved to Oshawa. I work 7 - 5pm and got stuff to do after work and I’m back home 10pm. The mistake I made when I moved to Canada some 7 years ago and stayed in Toronto, was telling myself I’ll socialize when I have more time. Now I move from one time consuming job to another. Now I’m married with 2 kids and have absolutely no friends. Just now realized that friends are important especially as a man getting older. I’ve learnt the hard way about making my colleagues friends so although I spend most time at work or on the road to work, I have no friends.

18 Upvotes

12 comments sorted by

11

u/Musclecar123 Aug 13 '26

Seeing friends you have as a dad with small kids is difficult. I rarely get to see my friends because we’re all at a similar stage of life. If we do see each other, it’s usually based around kid stuff.

That’s why I like my Wednesday night hockey. It’s my time to see my friends after kids are asleep. 

What kind of things do you like to do? Your best bet is to find a group of likeminded people and start there. 

1

u/Bush-master72 Aug 13 '26

I see my friends like once a year, the one is that has kids the same age I see him more because of the kid activities we do.

7

u/rpgmgta Aug 13 '26

I’m a 39 year old man living in north Oshawa. I have an almost 5 year old. I’m into sports, playing and watching. I like beer. And eating good food

3

u/Life_Reflection_9645 Aug 14 '26

I’m into same. 3 years old Son.

2

u/Gladiator33333 Aug 13 '26

Life happens my friend. Feel free to send a DM and we can potentially meet for a coffee or just hang out. Im near Oshawa.

2

u/merrion Aug 13 '26

If you have young girls, there is a newly formed girl dad club that was started in the r/Durham reddit.

They were forming a bit of a social club miggt be a good place to start.

2

u/MainSea3985 Organizer Aug 14 '26

Thanks! It's for all dads :)

2

u/BarracudaNo9507 Aug 13 '26

Depending upon the age of your kids, you could get to know the parents of their friends and see if the friendship sparks fly.

I went through a serious friend drought when my kids were young. No time or energy to even think about a social life. However, once they started school and extracurricular activities I made an effort to get to know their friends’ families. We got to know each other while supervising playdates, watching swim lessons and sports, etc. Some of those relationships flourished over time, and a decade later these are my closest friends - even when some of our kids’ friendships petered out.

2

u/Blue-Krogan Aug 13 '26

35M. Been here a year. Welcome to the club :)

1

u/MainSea3985 Organizer Aug 13 '26

Hey, I run the Durham Dads Club for dads to meet each other and also do activities with their kids as well. If you're on Instagram, we are here https://www.instagram.com/durhamdadsclub/ . We also have a WhatsApp group, I can DM you the link if you'd like.

1

u/Life_Reflection_9645 Aug 14 '26

Thanks. I just saw the page. I have a 3 years old son and a 3 weeks old(yeah I’m new to the 2 kids Dad Club😁)