As a mother, I'm constantly surrounded by people, but I still feel lonely. I'm often too distracted to connect.

• I have six kids, so I'm rarely alone, but I often feel very lonely. • The demands of motherhood leave little time for the deeper connections I crave. • I struggle to find the space for friendships, they often fall to the bottom of my to-do list.

As a mom of six, I'm rarely alone. My days are filled with noise — lots of noise. There is schoolwork spread across the kitchen table, laundry piled in corners, and schedules that somehow overlap and collide all at once, and all of that comes with a lot of chatter.

On paper, it seems like I should never feel lonely. I'm surrounded by people all day long. Yet the truth is, making real friendships feels harder than ever now that I'm a mom.

Moms are often together, but not connected

Motherhood comes with its own strange paradox: we are const