Frankly, I’m happy with my choice to not have children and I’m not the only one.
Here are the things women may not always be so keen to admit that they love about remaining childfree.
Sleeping in
This is a simple one, but it’s near and dear to my heart.
If I had kids, I couldn’t do that.
Does that sound silly to some?
“I love being able to just ‘pack up and go’.
“That would be hard to do with little ones in tow.
Plus, not everywhere we travel is necessarily ‘kid-friendly’, so that would be a big change.”
Traveling to, let’s say, a foreign country, would probably be a bit more difficult.
“I don’t know how they did it,” she told me, and I agreed.
The way they did it was sacrifice.
Where I live in Massachusetts, child care can be as expensive as college tuition.
“I love not having to factor in all the additional expenses of having children,” she said.
“Children are expensive little time-suckers!”
We have three guinea pigs, and the mess they make is enough.
I can live my life on a whim and do whatever necessary to follow my dreams.
It would have been an irresponsible choice with repercussions on their life in addition to mine.
My life is completely dictated by my own choices.
Now I just got my Real Estate license, because I can,” she said.
“I can just decide I want a new career and do it.
When I decided I didn’t like living in New Hampshire, I moved to Boston.
Everything would have changed if I had kids.”
Hill also agreed with this sentiment.
“We can do what we want when we want,” she said.
Peace and quiet
If you’ve never heard a kid’s high-pitched squeal, count yourself lucky.
One of the things I value about not having kids is the ability to have total silence at home.
It’s getting to sit down and read several chapters in a book without interruption.
I’m so happy for peace and quiet.
In both of those professions, you’re “on” all the time.
One of the things I love about not having children is the control over my body.
Beauregard echoed this sentiment.
“I like my body the way it is,” she told me.
“I saw what happened to my mother and my sister.”
My friend Amanda agreed.
I’ve seen what it did to my friends' bodies and I’m just not interested!"
One of the things I love about being childfree is that it is my decision.
I just accepted it as the natural way of things.
My friend Kate Estrop, who is 34, feels similarly.
I want to be.
I don’t want to be a parent," she said.
Having kids is great if that’s what you want in life.
Just because I have chosen not to have kids doesn’t mean I don’t like kids.
In fact, I really love spending time with my nieces and nephews.
Many of the women I spoke to agreed.
It doesn’t mean we hate kids or don’t want to be around yours.
We’re just really grateful we can send them home with you when you go.
Right now, we selfishly love our life too much to do that.
“I get to be 100 percent selfish and not feel guilty about it all!”
For a lot of women, this is what it all boils down to.
My friend Amanda tied it all together.
“I love having freedom to do what I want, when I want to.
These same people have told me I better hurry or it will be too late.
I’m told that it’s just a phase that I think I don’t want kids.
That said, some women do end up changing their minds.
If two years down the road we decide we want one, that’s fine.
I don’t know why people feel like it’s their place to push people into having kids.
Mind your own business.
If you want to have kids, that’s fine, have at it.”
She went on to tell me about a particularly difficult situation she saw unfold.
What’s right for one person or one couple isn’t necessarily right for another.
Don’t let someone else make you feel bad or less-than, regardless of your choice.
