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Just can't imagine having kids...

johnjohn320

Diamond Member
[blog]

The more my gf and I interact with our siblings and friends who have become parents in the last few years, the more convinced we become of our decision to never have kids ourselves. Mind you, we're not not negatively judging the decisions of others to become parents; it just simply isn't appealing to us in ANY way.

I'm sure that the love you feel once you have a child is overwhelming and incomparable to any other experience in life. It's beautiful. But, our observations of our peers with kids is that, most likely:

Your life, as you know it, is over. It's all about your kids, as it should be. That's good parenting. Whatever goals, professional or personal ambitions you have, whatever schedule you prefer, whatever life you'd like to lead for yourself is no longer relevant. If it's not what's best for the kids, forget about it. You should work the job that pays the best and has the best benefits, and has the schedule that allows you to be with your kids the most. If you hate it, if it's not your passion or what you set out to do, tough cookies. You have a family to provide for now. And kids cost an absolute shitload of money. What you earn is no longer yours-Johnny and Susie need to be fed, clothed, educated, entertained, enlightened and exposed...

Forget about spur of the moment decisions or scheduling changes; when and how you eat, sleep, shit, or go ANYWHERE is now beholden to another consideration, at least for the first few years.

You will become (I'm sorry) somewhat boring. Again, I'm not trying to judge people, just calling it as I (we) see it. Any stories you tell will be about your kids/parenting. Any travels, experiences, photographs, etc, will all be child-related. You will have no opinions on anything outside of parenting. Any exceptions to that will begin with "as a parent..." or "when I think about how this will affect my kids..." Doesn't matter if you're talking large-scale stuff like social issues or politics, or small-scale issues like problems that are going within the extended family or amongst close friends.

Your friends will be gone, out of your life. You simply won't have time...and if you do have time/energy for a phone call, the kids will be screaming/crying/running around in the background the whole time so loudly as to make it a completely unbearable conversation. Same goes for "hey, why don't you guys come over for dinner?" type activities.

Your relationship is not just about the two of you anymore. My gf and I know that we are together for one, single reason: We want to be. There are ZERO other considerations. If we're unhappy at any point, we can drop everything and go our separate ways. If we have kids, sayonara to that as well. Even if you hate each other, and you've both met someone else you'd rather be with, oh well. Better just be miserable, because you're a family now. It's a responsibility to take seriously; it's more important than your own happiness by a long shot.

I'm sure some people will be offended by my posting this, and take what I'm saying as personal judgments and insults. I don't mean for it to be, in fact, I applaud any parents out there. I don't know how you guys do it, it's incredible and admirable how selfless you are. I'm only stating that for myself, I just cannot imagine having even the slightest desire to procreate. I'm already bracing myself for the "since you're not a parent, you can't understand." It may be true, but it's also kind of a non-point to make.

I know that at some point, the biological clock may start tick tick ticking, and our stance may change (I'm in my late 20s, she just turned 30). But for now, kids? No thanks.

And now, on a Saturday night, I will proceed to go do whatever the fuck I want, because I have no other obligations or responsibilities to consider. 🙂

[/blog]

PS-and yes, I'll take the :cookies:, thank you. Om nom nom.

PPS-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S61vj1-Xjo 🙂
 
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i have plenty of friends who have kids and they aren't boring at all. we still go out with them on some weekends and take vacations with them without their kids. it's good that their parents are still around so they can dump the kids off in these cases. and the kids are like 1 through 4 years old that they will leave with the grandparents.

just sounds like you got some boring friends in general.
 
i have plenty of friends who have kids and they aren't boring at all. we still go out with them on some weekends and take vacations with them without their kids. it's good that their parents are still around so they can dump the kids off in these cases. and the kids are like 1 through 4 years old that they will leave with the grandparents.

just sounds like you got some boring friends in general.

Well, that's kind of a leap you made from the first to second paragraph. It's nice if you can "dump the kids off at the grandparents." But, lessee, my sister lives in the Southwest and our parents live in Chicago. A couple that my gf and I are friends with have parents--in Korea. etc etc I could go on...

So, kudos to your friends for being local with the grandfolks...some of us actually move away from home when we grow up. 😉

edit-plus, you know, not all people are great candidates for grandparent status, just like with parents. I won't go into detail here, but my mother's issues have already generally cut her out from her grandchildrens' lives...
 
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Nothing wrong with not wanting kids. I didn't want to for a long time. Then later on we decided we wanted kids so we got started. Now I have one and honestly it's a super great experience (albeit tiring).

You have to be in the right mindset, so yeah, if you're not in that mindset, then don't have kids.
 
It's what you make of it. My daughter didn't hold me back much. I traded whitewater paddling for spending time with her(my preference), but otherwise, she went everywhere I did.
 
You will become (I'm sorry) somewhat boring. Again, I'm not trying to judge people, just calling it as I (we) see it. Any stories you tell will be about your kids/parenting. Any travels, experiences, photographs, etc, will all be child-related. You will have no opinions on anything outside of parenting. Any exceptions to that will begin with "as a parent..." or "when I think about how this will affect my kids..." Doesn't matter if you're talking large-scale stuff like social issues or politics, or small-scale issues like problems that are going within the extended family or amongst close friends.
comics-lunarbaboon-baby-woman-681122.gif


I know that at some point, the biological clock may start tick tick ticking, and our stance may change (I'm in my late 20s, she just turned 30). But for now, kids? No thanks.
Things get significantly harder past about the age of 35, in terms of women's fertility.
 
[blog]

The more my gf and I interact with our siblings and friends who have become parents in the last few years, the more convinced we become of our decision to never have kids ourselves. Mind you, we're not not negatively judging the decisions of others to become parents; it just simply isn't appealing to us in ANY way.

I'm sure that the love you feel once you have a child is overwhelming and incomparable to any other experience in life. It's beautiful. But, our observations of our peers with kids is that, most likely:

Your life, as you know it, is over. It's all about your kids, as it should be. That's good parenting. Whatever goals, professional or personal ambitions you have, whatever schedule you prefer, whatever life you'd like to lead for yourself is no longer relevant. If it's not what's best for the kids, forget about it. You should work the job that pays the best and has the best benefits, and has the schedule that allows you to be with your kids the most. If you hate it, if it's not your passion or what you set out to do, tough cookies. You have a family to provide for now. And kids cost an absolute shitload of money. What you earn is no longer yours-Johnny and Susie need to be fed, clothed, educated, entertained, enlightened and exposed...

Forget about spur of the moment decisions or scheduling changes; when and how you eat, sleep, shit, or go ANYWHERE is now beholden to another consideration, at least for the first few years.

You will become (I'm sorry) somewhat boring. Again, I'm not trying to judge people, just calling it as I (we) see it. Any stories you tell will be about your kids/parenting. Any travels, experiences, photographs, etc, will all be child-related. You will have no opinions on anything outside of parenting. Any exceptions to that will begin with "as a parent..." or "when I think about how this will affect my kids..." Doesn't matter if you're talking large-scale stuff like social issues or politics, or small-scale issues like problems that are going within the extended family or amongst close friends.

Your friends will be gone, out of your life. You simply won't have time...and if you do have time/energy for a phone call, the kids will be screaming/crying/running around in the background the whole time so loudly as to make it a completely unbearable conversation. Same goes for "hey, why don't you guys come over for dinner?" type activities.

Your relationship is not just about the two of you anymore. My gf and I know that we are together for one, single reason: We want to be. There are ZERO other considerations. If we're unhappy at any point, we can drop everything and go our separate ways. If we have kids, sayonara to that as well. Even if you hate each other, and you've both met someone else you'd rather be with, oh well. Better just be miserable, because you're a family now. It's a responsibility to take seriously; it's more important than your own happiness by a long shot.

I'm sure some people will be offended by my posting this, and take what I'm saying as personal judgments and insults. I don't mean for it to be, in fact, I applaud any parents out there. I don't know how you guys do it, it's incredible and admirable how selfless you are. I'm only stating that for myself, I just cannot imagine having even the slightest desire to procreate. I'm already bracing myself for the "since you're not a parent, you can't understand." It may be true, but it's also kind of a non-point to make.

I know that at some point, the biological clock may start tick tick ticking, and our stance may change (I'm in my late 20s, she just turned 30). But for now, kids? No thanks.

And now, on a Saturday night, I will proceed to go do whatever the fuck I want, because I have no other obligations or responsibilities to consider. 🙂

[/blog]

PS-and yes, I'll take the :cookies:, thank you. Om nom nom.

PPS-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S61vj1-Xjo 🙂
I won't nitpick, but overall your post is highly astute and highly accurate. I will say it paints life in a very poor way; you don't point out any of the huge ups from having kids (evidenced by the fact that most who have them, despite your post, are still glad they did--and it's not all only because they have to tell themselves that), but ultimately yes most of what you say is accurate for most of the couples I've observed.

As I always say, though, you need to think about this fast. A 30 year old woman needs to start popping those little buggers out or think about it very soon because it's going to get more difficult and quite quickly. A lot of couples are surprised to find out they have infertility issues, and that wreaks hell on relationships.
 
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I honestly believe that no one should have kids until they're well into their 30's.

And they should also be good with pets before having kids.
 
Just dumping off your kids to someone else to go out and party, well if you have that available to you then great but some people don't.
 
I won't nitpick, but overall your post is highly astute and highly accurate. I will say it paints life in a very poor way; you don't point out any of the huge ups from having kids, but ultimately yes most of what you say is accurate for most of the couples I've observed.

I said, a couple of times, that I'm sure it creates a love that is incomparable to any other, and that's it a beautiful thing that likely can't be understood by anyone who hasn't experienced it. Are there other "ups" that I'm missing?
 
I said, a couple of times, that I'm sure it creates a love that is incomparable to any other, and that's it a beautiful thing that likely can't be understood by anyone who hasn't experienced it. Are there other "ups" that I'm missing?
Yeah, love and all that, but it's actually quite cool watching a kid develop before your eyes. If you actually want the kid, that is.
 
it's a tall responsibility for serious people. Don't do it if you think it's supposed to be the next thing in life. It's not like graduating hi school or getting a driver license.
 
I feel the same way. Heck I can't imagine being married let alone having kids. I find single life is just soooo much simpler and I can do more.
 
My wife and I agree although we are boring ourselves and kids wouldn't really affect us much in that respect. I just have no desire to be a parent nor do I enjoy children. I got snipped 2 years ago and haven't looked back.
 
I feel the same way. Heck I can't imagine being married let alone having kids. I find single life is just soooo much simpler and I can do more.
Who says you have to be married to have kids? 😉

For the record, I'm common law and have a kid, but the woman and I are not officially "married". We made the conscious decision to have a kid, but I didn't feel like spending big bux on a wedding and didn't really see the benefit of the certificate either.
 
Kids are fantastic. I have an 18 month old daughter and another on the way. But kids are not for everyone. Some points are valid, the spur of the moment is gone, but the love and joy are always there.
 
P.S. As I got older I found the no-kid life got really quite boring, and we wanted to have that kid.

Life is no longer boring for us, that's for sure. 😛
 
They you're just be a couple, not a Family. Having a child will dramatically change your relationship, for better/worse. You'll have to be unselfish and make sacrifices. Apparently the OP and GF are not those kind of people who are mature enough to have that responsibility. Good in luck staying together and hopefully not get "bored" looking at each other. 🙄
 
They you're just be a couple, not a Family. Having a child will dramatically change your relationship, for better/worse. You'll have to be unselfish and make sacrifices. Apparently the OP and GF are not those kind of people who are mature enough to have that responsibility. Good in luck staying together and hopefully not get "bored" looking at each other. 🙄

And yet most of those "mature" people that have kids, have them because they were immature and didn't plan it. Having a kid doesn't make you mature or more grown up than someone else. Knowing you don't want kids and making sure you're not having them is more mature than making an immature decision and accidentally having one.
 
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