Many parents will know that having children can take over your life, and when you see your friends and family, sometimes all you want to do is tell them what your little ones have been up to.
But one woman on Reddit has become so fed up with her friend’s family updates that she has decided to cut all contact with her.
The woman said she met her friend when she had one child, but after welcoming a second child five years ago, she “constantly” talks about her kids.
She said: “When I met my friend she had one kid. She'd mention her daughter from time to time, but it wasn't a constant thing. Then she had a second kid, and her kids became all she talked about. For a while, I thought it'd be temporary when she first had him, but now he's almost five. It's always something.
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“For example, if someone says something about baseball, she’ll say ‘Oh I've been wanting to take little Tommy to a game but I'm not sure if he'd make it through the whole thing.’
“If it's not something like that, it's anytime you ask her how she's been. She goes on a monologue about her kids and how her second one is so misbehaved, or something with their school.”
The woman then said she isn’t a fan of children herself and doesn’t want to hear her friend waffle about her youngsters all day.
And when she told her friend she wasn’t interested, the mum-of-two accused her of being “self-centred”.
She added: “I don't have kids, or like them all that much. My other friends that have them will talk about them sometimes but it's not their whole identity they have other things to talk about.
“Well, I started pulling away from the friendship with and not inviting her to stuff. I figured she can hang with her mummy and me people because she'd have more in common with them.
“She noticed that we ‘barely see each other or talk anymore’ and asked why. I said because all she talks about is her kids.
“She said that friends are supposed to take an interest in their friend's lives and I should be glad to hear about her kids because they won't be little forever. She also said that I'm apparently self-centred for not caring.”
The woman’s post received over 100 comments, and several people hit out at her for being a bad friend, and not realising how “demanding” it is to be a parent.
One person wrote: “She can't help the fact that she has kids. They are all-consuming! Her kids are not a side note, they are a permanent fixture in her life, of course, she is going to talk about them often. You sound like a horrible friend quite frankly. Do you understand how demanding it is to be a parent?”
And another added: “She is better off without you as a friend. A real friend would care and be interested in what she has to say and want to hear about her children because they are important to her.”
But many other commenters defended the woman, insisting she isn’t obligated to be anyone’s friend if their interests don’t align.
Someone said: “You are not self-centred. She claims friends are supposed to be interested in each other’s lives, yet she doesn’t seem to care about you and your life.”
While another person stated: “You are in different places in your life. There is no reason to have to stay friends with someone you no longer have things in common with.”
And a third wrote: “I had a friend like that and it is exhausting hearing about the same subject and feeling like nothing is as important as her kids.
“It’s really unhealthy for parents to make their kids their entire world and all they talk about. You can take an interest, but she needs to understand not everyone wants to hear about her offspring.”