By Crystal Lowery of Creepy Ginger Kid

Making new friends is tricky when you’re a grown woman. You’re adult enough to be on your best behavior, and yet too adult to enter into new relationships without heavy self-examination. The carefree spirit with which we approached friendship as children has been replaced by social etiquette and insecurity.

My story is a familiar one. It all started on my birthday when I invited a casual acquaintance to join a group of us for some cake, and she brought with her a present and a greeting card.

October 13th: New friend:

October 15th: Me:

October 25th: New friend:

November 10th: New friend:

November 21st: I felt like she was fishing for a response, so I sent:

December 13th: New friend:

December 25th: Me:

January 1st: New friend:

January 15th: Me, after hearing of her hangover…

January 30th: New friend:

February 15th: Me:

March 1st: Girl I’m not really friends with but keeps sending me cards:

March 21st: Me:

April 1st: New Frenemy:

Guys, I don’t know how it came to this. Greeting cards are the worst. Now I have yet another thing to be self-conscious about when I make new friends. My only choices going forward are to purchase stock in Hallmark or stop meeting people altogether.

A version of this post first appeared on Creepy Ginger Kid

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About the Author

Crystal Lowery is an American mom working in England. By day, she does medical research, by night she wrangles two small children, a boy and a girl. She has made millions laugh on The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Sammiches & Psych Meds, In the Powder Room, Mumsnet and others. You can find her blogging at Creepy Ginger Kid and she’d love for you to follow her on Facebook.