When your best friend tells you to stop texting her

When your best friend tells you to stop texting her because she’s about to have her first baby, it stings. A listener named Lizeth wrote in to Life Kit: her best friend, who lives in another country and is expecting, set a clear boundary—no texts or communication until she reappears with news. Lizeth, who is childless and doesn’t plan to have kids, wants to be a supportive “auntie” but also misses her friend and doesn’t know how to navigate the request.

The Life Kit hosts—Marielle Segata, Andy Tagle, and Malika Gareeb—took on this question along with three others in a Dear Life Kit episode. The throughline across all four questions is the tension between wanting to be a good friend, parent, or in-law and the need to protect your own well-being, set boundaries, and navigate awkward or uncomfortable relational dynamics. Each question presents a different flavor of that challenge, and the hosts offer practical, grounded advice that prioritizes honest conversation and self-preservation over forced politeness or guilt.

When a friend asks for space before a big life change