Comments on: Enfants Terribles… Would Parents Lives Be Better Without Children (Childfree)?

By: Like It Is : Corinne Maier Does Have A Message For Childfree Women

Like It Is : Corinne Maier Does Have A Message For Childfree Women — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 02:04:36 +0000

[...] Enfants Terribles - Would parents lives be better without children? [...]

By: Ashley K

Ashley K — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:57:42 +0000

First, I must start off with… I’m thankful to those that truly want to have children. Some women feel it is their purpose, and thats great! The world needs more well-adjusted people. People should be smarter about their decisions. I was really surprised at my families reaction 2 weeks ago. I’ve explained it to my mom, my relatives, and friends. Everyone agreed with my decision to not have kids. They all know how dedicated I am to music. I’m going into the Audio Engineering field, and you have to work a lot of odd hours (like 3am). Plus I want to keep singing, songwriting, etc. It wouldn’t be fair to a child at all. It would grow up being the rich kid at home by itself with the nanny. That’s just not fair to a child to be raised by a nanny. I know what it feels like to not be wanted as a child. I grew up asking my dad, “Why does mommy hate me?”. Now that I’m grown we’re really close. Plus, my husband wants to start his own business one day. After explaining my sensible reasons, everyone actually agreed with me. My grandmother, great-grandmother, step-great-grandmother, mom, uncles, etc… They all said I was being smart about it.

If you really think about it… There must be a reason rich kids send their kids off to boarding school. My mom says thats the one thing she regrets about my childhood. She wishes she would have sent me off to a boarding school. I actually begged them as a child to send me off to an Arts-oriented boarding school. lol!

By: strawberry muffin

strawberry muffin — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:38:37 +0000

I don’t care how many people say how “important” parenting is or how “fulfilling” it is or how “enriching” it is…I’d rather chop off my own head and eat it than have children. Parenting is the 9th circle of hell in my book and if I lived in some totalitarian nightmare where secret police told me to have kids or face the firing squad, I’d put that bandana on myself and shout “FIRE!”

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 04:33:01 +0000

I enjoyed her book, Hello Laziness: The Art and the Importance of Doing the Least Possible in the Workplace - nice to see she’s a versatile writer….;-).

By: Feh

Feh — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:12:00 +0000

They both rock.

As I always ask bingoers of all stripes, “Why should I have to have a living being that I don’t want to care for? I don’t want to train and care for a dog, so I don’t get a puppy and you say that’s a good decision. Then you turn around and say I should have a child that I don’t want to raise because …because why exactly, if I don’t want to care for one?” And I’m always met with a terrified stare, or a mealy mouthed “it changed my life” as a response.

By: RMS

RMS — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:33:02 +0000

This book sounds a lot like “I’m Okay, You’re a Brat” by Susan Jeffers, another terrific book that dispells the myth that being a mother is only about Kodak moments. I think these books are important, not just for those of us who are childfree, but to allow parents to realize it’s okay to be exasperated by their kids on occasion. You won’t go to hell if you sometimes wish you hadn’t had kids! Parents need the support to learn it’s okay to express their doubts or disappointments with being parents. Unfortunately, society has raised the idea of parenthood to saint-like status. I think this is why we, the childfree, illicit such ire from breeders. They’ve been brainwashed into denying their own misgivings so they push it on us.

Corinne Maier’s book and Susan Jeffer’s book blow the lid off this dirty little secret and I applaud them for being brave enough to speak their truth.

By: brightfeather

brightfeather — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:13:37 +0000

w00t! I love it when I see you go for it and tell it like it is.
And I love being childfree

By: Britgirl

Britgirl — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:48:42 +0000

Mercurior - It may be coming out on Amazon later. Thanks for the catch about the newspaper!

When I said the author didn’t get the difference I meant the writer of the newspaper article not Corinne Maier. CM does get the difference. But you could be right that the journalist may be French and thinking in French. But if she was then I wondered why she puts childfree in quotes.

By: mercurior

mercurior — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 08:23:11 +0000

i have done some research, and it wasnt out on amazon.co.uk this last week, maybe its only available in french or not on amazon. (maybe part of the childfree/childless confusion is the author thinks in french)

i wouldnt mind it either.. (btw the link links to the daily mail, not telegraph)