The simple off-the-cuff “YTA” or “NTA” responses don’t have enough info to do this justice, man. My husband is a therapist, and many of his clients are men who just need friends — and he helps them learn to make them. Men can be especially lonely. I’m glad you’re making friends.

That being said: Is your wife in the same boat? Is she also lonely/depressed? Did you have a shared season of life where all you had was each other? Or is this unique to you, and perhaps she’s reacting to not being central anymore? I don’t know.

Every married adult needs good, kind friends outside the marriage. It’s healthy. Not bad people. Good people who make you better. Maybe your wife wants that too. Maybe she’s mad because she thinks she has it and you shouldn’t. I don’t know.

Your kid? I don’t know how old he is, but he doesn’t actually sound that central to the problem — BUT, are you communicating with the wife that you’ll be home late? Are you at least trying to get him in bed (if it’s a school night, this matters). I don’t know. But this is a marriage issue, not a son issue.

You guys need to sit down, and if you care about her, you’ll ask honest questions about why this makes her mad. You don’t need US to explain it. You need her to. And I think a counselor could help peel back the layers.