Comments on: Childfree? You Don’t Know What You’re Missing

By: Britgirl

Britgirl — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 23:21:33 +0000

Teri - Hmm I wonder if you’d said yes, whether they’d be wondering when a little brother of sister was going to be produced! I remember reading about a man who agreed who had one child - and was constantly pressured (usually by women) as to when they were going to have a sibling for the “lonely” child. They implied he was being cruel only having one child!!! You just can’t win can you?!

TL - Missing out? No way! for all the reasons you say and more. Being able to travel off-peak is wonderful. No noisy children about, nor fractios parents.. and it’s cheaper too

By: Tiara Lynn

Tiara Lynn — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 17:27:59 +0000

“Y’know, that’s funny, because I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. I get to live my life the way I want to, my husband and I can live in the neighborhood we want to and not worry about the school district. We can travel where we want and when we want, saving money traveling off-peak because we don’t have school vacations to consider. We can go out to dinner or a movie or a show on a whim, we can see concerts without panicking about finding a babysitter, or we can go away for a romantic weekend without calling every couple hours to check how the tots are doing, and we can do this all last minute. I love our life.

What was the question again?”

By: Teri Tith

Teri Tith — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 13:32:10 +0000

I get a similar reaction when I tell people that I am an only child. I was asked this more when I was younger, and I guess you can’t expect young people to be very skilled conversationalists, but I would expect adults to be. (I know, I am a bit of an idealist = often disappointed.)

Common reaction to revealing I am an only child: “Oh, don’t you get lonely?” Answer: No, you don’t know any different. Of course it has colored how I developed into an adult, it shapes me. I now crave alone time. That’s how I refuel.

Of course we don’t miss something we’ve never had, and it applies to siblings as well as offspring!

Great post NikkiJ (er, BritGirl)!

By: Britgirl

Britgirl — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 02:17:25 +0000

TT - I read it, it’s brilliant. Very intimate, so brave, I think, of you to share. Thanks - and thanks for posting! The blog is coming along

By: britgirl

britgirl — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:10:11 +0000

Thanks Rebecca - and very well said! I couldn’t agree more.

By: timethief

timethief — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 02:25:42 +0000

britgirl and others too - I responded to two comments from sulz and sunburntkamel on my own blog on this subject. On the first go round I edited out some stuff I felt that was just too much information. Now I have had the courage to put it back in. If you would like to read it it’s at
http://coyotes.wordpress.com under “The Rock and the Wild Thing”

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 14:30:03 +0000

I agree that you can’t miss what you don’t have. It is impossible to do everything in life so I believe in choosing what you want to do and relishing it. Children may indeed be “worth it” for parents but my childfree status is definitely “worth it” and more for me.

Welcome back to this side of the pond, britgirl!

By: britgirl

britgirl — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 00:45:02 +0000

Too true. And how about wailing for over an hour after take-off in an aeroplane? Worth it indeed! I assumed the mother was trying to quiet the screaming child, but now I don’t think she was, she’d given up! And we all had to endure it.

By: sulz

sulz — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 09:54:58 +0000

haha “it’s worth it” my foot… when the kid’s just vomited on the floor, wailing her lungs out, let’s see if they’re say the same sentence with such indulgence…

the childfree choice is just like any other non-conventional choices individuals may make, like the not-wanting-to-marry choice, or the not-wanting-to-diet-despite-being-fat choice, or the not-breastfeeding-the-baby choice… anything unconventional is generally condemned by the stereotypical individual who does everything conventional and approved by the society.