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If you’re a mum dropping off or picking up the kids this week, how do you feel about hanging out with other ‘mum friends’?

Do you struggle to make those relationships or do you thrive on them? Or are you perfectly happy without?

For some, the school gates aren’t a place of easy connection but a source of social pressure.

Mums and writers Rhiannon Picton-James and Jayne Cherrington-Cook shared with Woman’s Hour’s Nuala McGovern why they dread the expectation to make ‘mum friends.’ For them, it can be tedious at best, and downright uncomfortable at worst. And let’s be honest—how often do we put this pressure on dads?

What do you think? Is it a missed opportunity for connection or just unnecessary stress?

You can listen to the full ‘mum friends’ conversation on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds. It's Woman’s Hour episode from 2 September.