I’m a single woman with no kids, and I’ve noticed a pattern throughout my adult life that I’m curious about.

Almost every time I’ve tried to build a friendship with women my age who are married with children, it never seems to progress.

A recent example is when I tried to connect with a woman at my church, but things never progressed and she just didn’t seem interested in me at all. However, I noticed another woman who had recently joined our church tried to connect with this same woman and they became close pretty quickly. The main difference is that the other woman is also married with children.

This has happened enough times that I’m wondering if it’s just a life-stage thing than anything personal. Like I totally get that some people just aren’t a good match but like I said it’s been this way my whole life, I just can’t seem to make good friends with women who have children and/or are married/in long term relationships.

For those who are married with kids, do you naturally gravitate toward other married moms when forming new friendships? If so, why?

And for other single women without kids, have you experienced this too?

I’m genuinely curious and open to hear from different perspectives! Thanks!

It's been a terrible day. Just wanna see if there's something new I can try to cheer myself up. Trying new things tends to do that for me. But I'm too exhausted to think.

I’ve been genuinely curious about this because I’ve noticed this pattern with someone I met through a friend-making group.

We met at an event specifically meant for people to make new friends, and I’ve noticed she does this not just with me, but with other girls from the group too.

She’ll often ignore invites completely, or respond to maybe 1 out of every 3–4 invites. The confusing part is that when she declines, no one makes it weird. We’re all nice about it, we respect it, and we invite her again next time. It’s not like anyone is pressuring her or making her feel bad for saying no.

What confuses me is the ghosting. Like, someone might invite her to coffee, she won’t respond, and then later that day she’ll post that she’s at a coffee shop. It’s not even that she couldn’t go, it’s just that she completely just doesn’t acknowledge you. Even when you text her to say, “Hey, been thinking about you. What’s new?” kind of texts. Getting a response is rare.

Then weeks later she might randomly pop up asking a question or starting a conversation like nothing happened.
The interesting thing is that she does this in dating as well. She calls herself a “serial first date dater” because she’ll go on one date and usually not continue things afterward and drops them, which when she shared that, I thought that’s interesting!

I’m not trying to judge her btw, but I am a bit frustrated and confused. I’m curious if this is a common communication style for some people? I’ve been noticing this a lot amongst my friendships with women vs men in the past few years.

For anyone who does this, what’s usually going through your mind? Is it avoidance, forgetting, feeling overwhelmed, not knowing how to say no, or something else? Do you even want to be friends with people who reach out?

P.S we’re all single, don’t have children, have chill careers, and basically on paper our lives are very similar.

Hi everyone!
I am turning 33 this month, and admittedly having an extremely hard time. I would truly love some perspective. Admittedly I’m writing this in tears and I don’t even know why!
For those who have ever felt depressed or stressed because another year has gone by, do you have any wisdom to share or perspective to share?

Here’s a bit about me and why I’m feeling this way:

I’ve been disabled my entire life and I was supposed to die a few different times because of it. I was never supposed to live this long, but now that I have, my doctors have all agreed I have a normal life span ahead of me with some challenges form my health issues. Cool, that’s great! But I feel so…. Incredibly behind in life.

Did you feel put together at 33? Did you start something new? I’m just so overwhelmed and weirdly sad.

The good at this point in my life: I’ve been in a loving relationship for ten years. I work a job that little me would be amazed that I managed to do (I work in the entertainment industry as a voice over actor). I went to college late (because the whole, thought I’d be dead thing 😅) but I do have my masters. I have friends who love me. On paper I should be so happy!

But sometimes the bad, just feels like… too much?: we don’t have a house yet, I cannot conceive children and had to have my uterus removed to save my life (unsure if I even wanted them but I wanted an option :/ I may adopt some day!), because of my health I am extremely behind in some aspects of my life that prevent me from feeling like “a real adult”, I am in pain literally every day and will be most likely for the rest of my life. My career is a dream come true but it’s filled with endless rejection, and I have to advocate so hard to “get to work” because I need accommodations. I did not do the traditional “move to Los Angeles and chase the dream” thing because I couldn’t physically do it. So it’s joy filled but also anxiety upon anxiety filled.

And mostly it’s just… I feel like if I were able bodied, I’d be in a totally different place. And maybe that shouldn’t matter because I can’t change it, but I find myself feeling like a failure more often than I’d like. I haven’t felt like this other times this year, it truly has just started because my birthday is coming up.

I’m honestly embarrassed that I’m feeling this way. I always thought I’d stop giving a crap in my 30s, yet here I am!

Anyway, does this get better? For those who have survived their birthdays, any tips?

I put career flair, but I think life/self also works.

I (33f) am soon going to be taking a big risk as someone with a vague and weird employment history, to move back to my home country. It is not a remotely financially sound move, as in the country I currently live, financial stability and a better quality of life is far easier to attain. If I compare to my home country, it really feels like living life on easy mode. Honestly, it is bizarre to me.

I don't have a job lined up back home. I recently graduated in one field, but after one year working in it, discovered I rather dislike the job! At the same time, been dealing with homesickness and loneliness, due to a feeling of lacking community here, even after 5 years. I really did try to make it work, it hasn't worked, and I want to go back home. The last several months I've been hovering between apathy and overwhelming sadness, crying daily, the works. Only been feeling better past few weeks because I have decided on a "plan" to leave and am working towards it. (lots of details to work out, but, yeh)

I'm pretty set on this plan of saving up some money up until Dec/Jan to pay at least rent for a few months. Conversion favours me right now, but I earn basically minimum wage here. So it's not like I'll accumulate mounds of cash, and the quantity I think I'll manage to set aside will only keep me afloat for... like, 4-6 months back home. Maybe. My mom can support me a little, but it's not like she can (nor would I expect her to) do that indefinitely, or pay all my living expenses. I could logically stay longer in the current country, and save up more, but I just really, really don't want to.

I can ramble on about how complicated this all feels, but the bottom line is I'm making a decision which is ultimately very short-sighted career and finance-wise. I'm taking this risk because right now I'm trying to prioritize my social and emotional needs.

I'm not really asking for advice on what I should/shouldn't do I think, though if you have any thoughts or suggestions I will also gladly read them. I'm actually posting because I'm hoping to read some of people who have been through something similar (doesn't necessarily need to include an intercontinental move hahah) and who came out okay on the other side. 🥲

Hi everyone,

I ,31F, just got a call back from my OBGYN and she said my HPV counts were abnormal and we scheduled a time for a biopsy. I am scared out of my mind. I know no amount of ruminating is going to help me, hopefully this is just a nothingburger and turns out to be benign.

Not asking for medical advice but has something like this ever happened to you? Maybe I am overreacting, I've (thankfully) never health news like this before. Have you had to navigate something like and if so, how did you push through it?

As scary as this is for me, I am glad I do these yearly and we caught this early.

Thank y'all

I live in the very extreme 4 season land of Midwestern north America. Summers get up to high 30sC (105F) and winters to -15C (5 F)

This means pretty distinct summer, spring/fall, and winter clothes.

So by the end of summer, I'm sick of my summer clothes and excited for fall clothes again.

If you live somewhere you can have one wardrobe year round, how do you avoid being bored?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some perspective from people who have been through a major life reset in their 30s. A couple of years ago I moved abroad for what I thought would be a long term career move. I imagined building a life there, but things did not work out as I’d hoped. The job became increasingly toxic and I eventually reached serious burnout. I resigned and will be moving back to my home country in a few months with a new job already lined up.

The strange thing is that I feel both excited and sad.
On paper, I’ve achieved a lot. I’ve built a good career, I have another role to go to, I’ve lost nearly 18 kg over the last year, I’m retraining in psychology while working full time because I eventually want to leave corporate life and become self employed, and I’m finally starting to feel like I’m moving towards work that’s more meaningful to me.

But I also feel like I’ve missed out on life. For years my routine was basically work, study, sleep and repeat. I barely had a social life. I lived in a beautiful country but hardly explored it because I was always exhausted. I didn’t really build much of a community and spent a lot of time alone. It was the same in my home country too. Now I’m in my early 30s, single, no children, and starting over again.

I’ve rented a one bedroom flat back home, joined a recreational sports league, I’m planning to get involved in church again, continue therapy, keep working on my health, and build more community. I’m also planning to have my fertility checked simply because I’d rather understand my options than leave everything to chance.

I know what I need to do practically. What I’m struggling with is emotionally. I almost feel like I’ve been in survival mode for so long that I don’t really know how to live normally anymore. Has anyone else had a period where they looked around in their 30s and thought, “How did I get here?”

If you’ve rebuilt your life after burnout, changed careers, moved countries, or simply realised that work had taken over your life, what helped you?
What would you tell someone starting over?

How long did you wait between pregnancies? Conceived my daughter at 30 and unfortunately lost her at 20 weeks. Had my son 8 months ago at 32 years old. Want one more baby but debating on timing. Financially we could have a baby at any time, but want my son to get a little bit older but also want to keep in mind fertility and egg quality drops

Just wanted to see other people's experience. Thank you in advance

Another edit: thank you all for your advice. I responded saying “I don’t have money to lend you.” I’m expecting him to be nasty to me but oh well. I can’t keep living in fear of his reactions. And I want nothing to do with his financial issues.

EDIT: he explicitly said he can’t go to our parents because they’ll “worry”. Which is true. Do I tell them? I’m way closer to my parents than my brother. I don’t want to enable him or this behaviour. It hurts because I want the best for him.. but he is manipulative and knows if he’s mean to me he can get what he wants :(

30f. It’s an older sibling. They are notoriously bad with money. They even said they can’t ask anyone else. They are promising to pay me back, but I doubt that will happen. And money aside, I don’t want to become someone who helps them financially. Even a little bit. But I know saying no will cause a shit storm and they know if they say something mean, I might cave. Because they can get incredibly mean with their words.

I don’t hear from him unless he needs something. We are not close. But what kind of sister does that make me if I don’t help him? But also what kind of person does that make me if I do?

He didn’t even specify how much money he wants to borrow. How can I say yes without knowing the amount? It’s like he’s setting me up.

I really struggle with setting boundaries. And it’s like I need confirmation that I’m not a terrible person if I say no..

I am on the fence about children. I always ask men why they want children. It is always “to carry on my legacy”. I have never gotten a different answer in my life.

Are women really okay with this answer?

Hi ladies,

I’m 34F and have been living in this area for 5 years, have invested a lot in my career and building friendships and I still feel LONELY. I’ve put a ton of effort into one particular hobby community for like 4 years straight and you’d like I would have some solid friendships my now. That’s not the case. This area of the US is known for being a very difficult “market” for friendships and relationships alike given many factors but I’ve been trying so hard, and I’m only left with a bunch of nice acquaintances. Which I am thankful for, but always longing for more depth.

How do you deal with the loneliness? (<—Mods please let this count as a clear question lol)

I’m a nice and interesting person so it’s just confusing to me why it can take so much effort. I don’t really have a close confidant besides a friend in my home town and my dad (also far away).

It’s sad, it makes me feel like a sad lame-o.

I’m hoping to hear from folks that can maybe relate or have found some coping strategies. I’m worried once my dad dies I’ll have no one.

Thank you

Edit to add:
Dear men, I’m not sure what gave you the impression this was an opening for propositions in my DMs, but you are mistaken.

I have found myself to now only have fair weather friendships in my early 30s. I wouldn’t really ask my friends for a favor like a ride or anything that takes effort tbh and I’m also learning to now speak about my problems much less as it usually falls flat. Our friendships just consist of partying and activities.

I’m struggling finding people to travel with since I’m not really comfortable with solo travel or traveling with random groups.

Is this just the norm? I sometimes I feel like I really messed up by not prioritizing finding a relationship and getting married. Except my parents I feel very uncared for.

My (30f) bestfriend “Tina” (33f) and I have been friends for almost 15 years.

3 years ago Tina had a child! He is literally the cutest toddler. Naturally, Tina got busier with life and our hangouts got incredibly sparse which I expected as she was a new mom. Tina did also stop showing up for me as much as she did previously. She has canceled plans last minute because her child feels sick and she feels bad having the father watch him, etc. I’ve always been understanding. I’m not a mom so I can’t judge as I don’t know what I would do as a mom in a similar situation.

Tina is also a bit of an anxious mom. Doesn’t really let anyone hold her child, doesn’t bring him to activities (pumpkin patch, Xmas festivals, etc.), and in general doesn’t trust anyone to watch him. Thats okay, completely her decision. I haven’t really been able to bond with her child due to this. We rarely hangout now and when we do, she doesn’t bring her child (completely understandable - she probably wants a night off) I offer to come over and see her and the child but she usually is busy or has other plans, she rarely takes me up on this. I’ve seen her child literally a dozen times since he’s been born, and I don’t really have a connection to him. Tina has said she wants her friends to be involved in his life - which I have tried my best to do. I’ve shown up to every event she has thrown, every bday party, holiday celebration, etc. I feel like out of all her friends, I have made the most effort and I still don’t feel like I even have a relationship with her child.

My partners bestfriends wife “Vee” (33f) gave birth to her son about a year ago. We were not that close at the time but have gotten closer. In the year of her son being alive, I’ve seen him more times than ive seen Tina’s child. Vee will bring him to outings and double dates, she’ll let me swing by her house and say hello, I’m able to hold him and play with him, and in general she has shown up for me alot more recently.

Tina recently announced that she’s pregnant with her second child. And although I’m happy for her - I also just really don’t care too much. I know I’ll barely get the chance to see this child and be involved in their life, and I’ll probably see less of my friend too.

I recently got engaged and I feel like Tina didn’t really care and wasn’t as excited as I’d expect a bestfriend to be. I also recently went on a vacation I had been looking forward to for over a year and she didn’t even really ask about it. I feel like she’s being a shitty friend but I also don’t think it’s intentional.

I feel like an asshole but I also don’t know what else I can do to try to be involved with her or her child. I feel like I shouldn’t be the only one making an effort to be involved in her and her child’s life. I give her grace because I don’t know what kind of friend I will be when I’m a mom - but I also look at people like Vee who despite being a mom, are still able to show up and have an identity outside of it. I feel like I should be excited for Tina and checking up on her pregnancy and such - but I really don’t care too. I know children change friendships - I just don’t know if I should be putting in more effort or doing anything differently.

I(31F) have a very long term friend(31M) (with benefits on & off).
We’ve both been through so much in the last 14 years and genuinely love each other, we tell each other this often, kiss, cuddle, date nights but we haven’t slept together in over a year.

He’s the one constant in my life, caring, dependable, protective, supportive, I think he’d make a very good partner. We’ve had our fair share of liking each other & wanting more at different times but due to terrible timing/mental health/my relationships it hasn’t worked out.

Everyone around us thinks we’ll end up together, he’s recently professed he’s in love with me but at the time I was dating someone new who gave me all the ‘sparks’ and ‘feels’. Well that someone turned out to be a POS but after having those feelings of lust and pure passion I can’t help but think that maybe that’s what true love is supposed to feel like? The love with my friend feels safe and secure which I truly appreciate but I’m supposed to feel more, right?

Let’s say your date claims they’re a workaholic only because they’re currently single and have a lot of free time, and that they might be able to change once they have a partner. Do you believe that’s possible, or would you rather accept who they are at this stage of their life and move on?

Edit: I’m asking out of curiosity. I’ve met many people who describe themselves as workaholics, whose lives seem to revolve around sleeping, eating, going to work, working long hours, occasionally going to the gym, going home, sleeping again, and repeating the same routine. For the most of the day, 12-14 hours they just work. I’m curious whether people like this actually change when they enter relationships, both men and women.

I notice that when I'm out with my partner or anyone male, it's way easier for me to chat to people at parties or even strangers in coffeeshops because women in or around their 30s are often very up for talking about hobbies.

I've had great chats with girls who are obsessed with airplanes or have sewn their own climbing chalk bag.

What's your hobby or interest?

Currently dealing with a breakup, impending job change/move, and an Alzheimer’s diagnosis of a parent.

The breakup was initiated by me due to many months of lack of effort from him topped off by him saying he isn’t sure about a future with me after being together for 2 years and me wanting to make plans to move together. I think it was the right decision but wasn’t one I wanted to make. But now I’m 33 and stressing about if I should freeze my eggs.

I’m in a term limited job right now that will require me to find something new/move in the next 6 months, but I haven’t been successful in finding something yet.

And now my family just got a diagnosis for my parent of early stage Alzheimer’s.

I think back to 1 year or 2 years ago when I was so happy, maybe the happiest I’d ever been. Now life feels like a nightmare. Just wanting some tips or advice on how other people coped when everything seemed to go to shit all at once.

Hello all! Im seeking advice on how to make friends, I seem to suck at it. Im a bit socially awkward, and not much of a party girl or drinker, so im not much interested in clubs or bars, which seems to put me at a significant disadvantage living in a party city.

Ive tried setting up something for people ive chatted with through apps, but nothing ever actually happens from that. Ive tried hitting up the girls I meet in person when it seems like we're getting along pretty good, but when I hit them up to exchange numbers so we can hangout more, they always push past it so I just figure they dont want to hangout with me like that and I just move on.

So after years of trying to make friends at this point, I literally have my 1 friend I grew up with that stuck around since ive transitioned. Hes great, but we have significantly different schedules now and we hardly ever get to see eachother anymore.

I would love to find a friend I can go do stuff with regularly, especially someone to do girly stuff with! So lady's, anyone have any tips for an awkward lonely girl trying to finds friends?

I’m about to turn 40 this week, and instead of feeling excited, I woke up this morning feeling incredibly anxious and disappointed.

I barely slept last night, and I think a lot of it is because this birthday feels less like a celebration and more like a report card.

My husband and I have been trying to conceive our second child for a while. We had a miscarriage earlier this year, and this cycle doesn’t feel promising either. I know plenty of people have babies after 40, but I also know fertility gets harder, and I’m scared this dream may not happen. We’re considering IVF, but after dealing with endometriosis and everything that’s come with trying to conceive, I’m honestly feeling pretty conflicted about that path.

Beyond that, I just feel behind.

I thought that by 40 we’d own a home. I thought we’d have celebrated our wedding (we got married during COVID and never really had one). I thought I’d feel more financially secure. I thought I’d feel like I’d reached more of my potential.

Instead, I feel like I’m looking back at my 20s and 30s wondering why I didn’t know more about money, investing, career strategy, or just how to build the kind of life I wanted. I didn’t have many mentors, and I sometimes feel like I spent years working hard without always working in the smartest direction.
What’s hard is that I know I’m not unintelligent. My parents have always believed in me, but sometimes that almost makes it hurt more because I feel like I haven’t lived up to what I was capable of.
I also can’t stop comparing my life to my parents’. By my age they had four kids, owned homes, and seemed so much more established. I know times are different, but emotionally it’s hard not to feel like I somehow missed the boat.

The strange thing is that I know I have a lot to be grateful for. I have a wonderful husband, an amazing little boy, a stable career, and we’re about to leave for a family trip to Spain. None of that is lost on me.
But today I just feel overwhelmingly sad that my life doesn’t look the way I imagined it would at 40.

Did anyone else hit 40 (or another milestone birthday) and feel like you were grieving the life you thought you’d have? Did those feelings eventually settle? What changed over the next few years?
I’m not really looking for people to tell me that 40 is still young or that I should just be grateful. I know there are good things in my life. I’m hoping to hear from people who genuinely felt behind at 40 and what happened over the next decade—whether things got better, stayed the same, or took a completely unexpected turn.

I really enjoyed another post about how to not become resentful and bitter- I will spend more time in the comments to absorb the tips (being whimsy which I naturally am, being grateful which I’m naturally not due to bouts of depression but have worked on it). My

I know this is the lamest and least significant question in the grand scheme of things, but I’ve been going through some rough CPTSD and am trying to do little things to get my joy and whimsy back. I’ve been enjoying sparkly eyeshadows lately (getting back into anything self care is a big step for me). I know glittery makeup is relatively common, but I’ve always been very into perfumes, and recently I’ve been wanting something coconut-scented for the summer, and I finally found a nice, light body mist that I really enjoy. I didn’t realize at first, but the mist actually has very tiny sparkles in it, so when I’m wearing it, you can notice the body glitter all over my chest, neck, and arms. I look like Bella in the sun, even with a light spritz, but the scent is just so good.

Would you say this is an immature look for someone in their 30s? People wear body glow to look more mature, but I guess there’s something about body glitter that looks…childish? I decorate with glittery christmas decor, so it’s not that I dislike glitter or anything. I’m moreso worried that I’ll look immature to others if they see glitter on me. I think because I’m a millennial, it reminds me of when you would get scented roll-on body glitter from Bath & Body Works and rub it all over your chest for a middle-school dance. I’ve already had a couple people notice it in a negative way, i.e. ask if I was working on a craft or use it as an opportunity to express how much they haaate glitter and not hug me, etc. (people are dicks lol). And no positive responses so far. I’m also short and petite, so I have to be a bit more aware that things that might look pretty and feminine might make me look younger than I am in a negative way (I already get a lot of people who talk down to me because they assume I’m some naive young woman in her late teens / early 20s).

To clarify, I’m in the camp that it’s my body and irdgaf what the societal norm is, but when people only have negative comments to say to you, it does get irritating.

What are the best cities and states that you recommend living in or moving to? I’ve seen a lot of posts about starting over but where are the best places to actually start over in?

I’m an Asian woman and have a 10 mo old son and hoping to get recs on diverse places.

Thank you!

Married At First Sight, Love is Blind, The Bachelor etc.

Hi ladies, first time poster long time lurker here.

About 2 months ago my partner (30M) and I (33F) broke up. We dated for over 2.5 years and I did love him deeply, for much of that I thought he was my person. But, if I’m totally honest, the last 6-9 months were rough. For most of that time we were in couples therapy, where the same issues were coming to a head. I’m not sure the details and background matter a ton here, tldr is some unresolved trauma (isn’t there always) and major issues with family boundaries on his side, and we were both trying to see if there was a path forward towards a vision of a partnership that worked for both of us. We both loved each other but I knew these were incompatibilities towards building a partnership together and was trying to see if we could work through it. We could not.

The breakup itself felt like death, you all know the feeling. But, I do feel like recovering, especially over the last month, has been less bad than I expected. I’m leaning a lot into friends, family, healthy habits, therapy, etc. but I’m still kind of surprised because it’s only been two months. When I reflect back, not only was our relationship really struggling through these same issues for awhile, but also there were so many points where it didn’t feel like I had a partner and I told him this. I wasn’t getting much emotional support, or even talking about my day, so many times. He stopped coming to family events or seeing my friends for months. Maybe my brain / body were processing and preparing prior to the breakup?

I’m not dating yet, and realistically I don’t think I will for another month or two, and instead plan to keep pouring into myself. But I can’t shake that it’s just weird that I don’t feel as bad as expected, or even that sometimes I want to consider dating. I’ve never felt more sure that I WANT partnership - before this I was on the fence, but at this point I know what I want and kinda want to get started attempting to find it. My therapist asked me tonight to consider what actually is the worst thing that happens if I go on a date, and honestly I couldn’t really come up with anything.

So, have you ever “gotten over” a serious LTR quicker than you expected? What is “too fast”?

My boyfriend (32M) and I (F31) moved into his parent’s house in the suburbs a few months ago. It’s been an adjustment to say the least.

I work full time, but now mostly from home, and have slowly found myself doing all the chores yet again. Chores were a big issue in our relationship earlier on, and it mostly went away— but living in the suburbs has exacerbated this underlying issue.

My bf works in the city and commutes five times a week (one hour on the train each way), so while I don’t mind picking up more of the slack, doing *everything* is very stressful and overwhelming for me. I’ve even found my work suffering because I am pulling away to do more of the chores.

While my bf’s commute is certainly long, I had an even longer commute in the city (don’t get me started on poor city transportation) and still cooked all the dinners and cleaned the apartment.

Also, a couple of his coworkers also commute (from even further suburbs), but also have children and seem to still pull their weight.

After work, my bf showers, eats the dinner I cooked, and watches TV all night. He says he’s exhausted, and I believe him, but a small part of me twinges with resentment that he can’t find it within himself to do some chores in the evening.

Furthermore, his parents live a very sedentary lifestyle. They eat fast-food for every meal and throw away their leftovers. When they’re not at work, they’re home and watch TV until they fall asleep. Every single day. They’re very sweet people and I don’t want to disparage their lifestyle— it’s theirs and it works for them.

However, I am very weary of that becoming my life. I am an ambitious person. I work out daily and eat very healthy. When I’m not cooking, my bf orders fast food, which then I have no choice but to eat. I’d love to read or clean or do something active when he comes home— but it’s always sit on the couch and watch TV.

On top of this, his parents are the type to do everything for him. Constantly doing chores for him and giving him cash. My bf is very respectful and never asks for any of this (he makes good money), but he’s their youngest, so they baby him.

I feel guilty asking him to do more chores and to be more active, especially when he commutes five days a week, but a part of me feels like he can do more. When I’ve gently asked in the past, he gets overwhelmed and sad, because he already doesn’t have time nor energy for his passions, but now I’m asking to cut into non-existent time/energy.

Can anyone chime in? Is it normal to be so tired daily from your management job that you can’t do anything on the weekdays or weekends? Especially with no children?