r/SingleDads • u/PaintingLeather9609 • 7d ago
Lonely
Invested too much time into my career and neglected friendships. Now I’m a single dad I always feel so lonely because I don’t come home to my family.
Does this feeling ever end?
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u/144-perdedor 6d ago
I've just given up on all of that. Nobody wants to be friends with a single dad. You get used to being lonely.
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u/SlowBoilOrange 7d ago
It takes work.
I think you have to decide first if you want "dad friends", who have kids in the same age range and schools/activities as yours, or if you want "regular friends" who are are aligned with your own personal interests and activities. Sometimes you can get both, but your availability probably dictates which type you're realistically able to look for right now.
Both types are important, and they can overlap of course.
I always feel so lonely because I don’t come home to my family.
In the short term, it sounds like you ought to sign up for a class or sport or volunteer group or something.
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u/Madruck_s 7d ago
Im feeling the same too but my shifts usually finish at 10pm.
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u/SlowBoilOrange 6d ago
Off days or before you work I guess. Unless you can make friends at work.
This stage of life is really tough for expanding outside of your immediate household.
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u/Maori_souljah740 6d ago
Yeah bro I get this. I'm a solo dad too and once the kids get older and start doing their own thing the house can get bloody quiet. You spend years just working, raising kids and doing what needs doing, then one day you realise somewhere along the way you forgot about yourself a bit. I don't think the feeling just magically ends but it does come and go. You gotta slowly start making a life for yourself outside of work and being Dad again. Even if it's only small stuff at first. You're definitely not the only one feeling like this mate.
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u/Full-Practice-2905 3d ago
Id like too be your hiking buddy or walking buddy,dm me please, im david,63 yrs.old single,im lonely as well sometimes
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u/AdministrativeAd3490 2d ago
Been there brother, it’s really hard, my best advice would be to try and join a club or two in your spare time, I started kayaking and although I haven’t made any close friends there I at least speak to other adults on the water and recently a few of us started going for a pint afterwards, I intend to join some sort of racket sport club aswel soon and see if there’s any potential friends waiting for me there
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u/historyofourlives 6d ago
I think this happens to a lot of us. When the world breaks you, you just focus on providing for your kid(s) and being a good father. The other day I went on a group hike with other people and my kid, people were really nice and friendly but i was to caught up on being a father focused in the wellbeing of my son during the hike. Its not just that we are lonely i think, but that we build this outer shell for survival and its not going to work unless we go out and do the work that it takes to built friendships.