Single mum - lonely

[Flowerpowersss]

Since my husband left 2 months ago I find myself in the evenings sitting in the kitchen reading, prepping food , cleaning , looking at my phone , watching tv with the kids or im just by myself .

My kids are pre teens and they are

Very independent and love to play together or spend time in their rooms , they do spend time with me all the time.

Dont get me wrong I do like being single as all the stress from married life has gone and im not so stressed , but im really really lonely as I miss the company and the friendship I had with my husband ( ive stopped begging him to come home and trying to do as little contact as possible ) .
He was also my only proper relationship as I was a teenager when our relationship began.

Im not ready to date , is it normal to talk to another man and feel guilty ? Because I do .

Any suggestions on what I could do ? How do single parents cope with the loneliness ,

I was like this when me and my child's father split up (he had many anger issues and cheated on me countless times, but I felt like I couldn't cope without my best friend).
When our DD went to bed I'd spend countless nights crying, feeling lonely and feeling like if I did speak to anyone else I was an absolute burden amongst not being over my family being broken up. It took a good few months before I realised that I preferred my new life. It was a little lonely yes, but I remembered who I was without him and then began a new era of my life, I had new friends (it helped to find single friends so they could relate to my situation), became vastly more cultured and learnt several new skills with my freetime (as we still coparented our child) by going to night school. Of course, a year or so later when discovering the new me, he decided he'd like to come back and I honestly couldn't fathom giving up myself for this man again and actually thanked him for leaving in the first place so I could find myself. We're actually quite good friends now and both with new long term partners 4 years on.

The bottom line is, your new life is abouts to begin and I promise (from experience) that very soon, you'll wonder why you ever worried.

I wish you all the luck and I really hope this helped ❤️

Imvite a friend around?
A new hobby, sounds silly but my career is in art and I have thoroughly enjoyed a colouring in book for adults. Seriously considering getting a paint by numbers just to enjoy the process without the thinking 😄 I also do a spa evening with face packs and things to take more care of myself.
DIY project, decorating as really helped me to keep busy and feel like I am accomplishing something.
Book in things to look forward to. A glass of wine with a friend, getting out of the house for a wall, to a local museum, new things that you wouldn't have done while your ex lived with you.
Introduce a new family tradition like a weekly games night. Then some of you free time will be used thinking of snacks, what games to play and also - something to look forward to.
If you cannot, join a new hobby outside of the house. Running, dance, sewing, painting class, gym, netball.
It is really hard, and I still find it the most difficult when the kids are gone and I'm on my own (and I live with my mum!). Be kind to yourself. Don't date yet, find yiur new rhythm and enjoy prioritising yourself.