To ask if I'm just boring?

[Theseamisun]

What do you talk about with your friends?

I don't have very many. I work full time with a group of women who are a lot older than me and try to spend as much time as possible with my small family.

I see my best friend of 20 years (secondary school) every couple of months. I often find she seems a bit bored/drained when we're together and I can't think of a lot to say.

Just interested in the more specific topics you discuss with your friends? Like for example if one of the things you talk about is politics, how does this unfold and is it a debate or just a commentary?

Surely you know your best friend very well and therefore know what interests you have in common? With childhood friends I sometimes check in on various people that we knew at school (as I moved out of our hometown). General conversation topics with friends include:

• Sport - I like running and a few other sports, friends like hearing about this and often update on any sport they're doing. Some are couch to 5k level all the way up to Ironman level. It seems to be something people generally like chatting about in my circles.

• Children and their developement - I'm a parent to small kids with lots of friends with small kids so it makes sense this would come up.

• Family - I try to keep up to date with my friends' families including their siblings etc. if they're close to them. I'll also ask about their relationship if they've previously been open about it/if they have needed support in this area before.

• Debate topics - I like a debate but only with people that obviously enjoy them too. I'll throw hypotheticals out there to kickstart this type of discussion.

• Cooking - I'm always asking people if they've tried out any new meals or have any recipe recommendations.

• Things to do - I'll often update on various days out I have coming up and ask if they have any events planned. Always useful to know in case I want to attend the event/a similar event.

• Special discounts/deals - I love talking to my friends and family about any really good deals or discounts I've nabbed. I like hearing about anything my friends have got too, even if they got a nice blazer on Vinted or something. It's nice to share their joy.

• News - big news or silly news stories. Usually local to our area. I sometimes like sharing silly stories I've seen on community groups for instance, if relevant/the right sort of person.

These are all on top of the usual conversations you would have directly about that individuals life of course. So, if I know a friend is studying for some big accountancy exams then I'm going to be asking and hearing quite a lot about that during a meet-up.