Parenthood has never been appealing to me. Just the thought of screaming kids and a messy house makes me want to throw myself off a cliff. Maybe it's because I have a quick temper and not a lot of patience. Maybe I just did not inherit the maternal gene.
In any case, I am 99 percent sure that I do not want children when I am older. I say 99 percent because I might be 1 percent curious on adopting a baby--that is if it's a fur baby. Just kidding, there is a 110 percent chance that I am adopting every dog in the world. But I am 100 percent sure that if I change my mind later in life, it will be because I chose to.
If you told me that this was my decision 15 years ago, I most likely would have agreed with you. I just knew from an early age that having kids wasn't in my game plan. I played with Barbies and Polly Pockets, but they were going on cool adventures or running their own business, not popping out babies left and right. It never crossed my mind that maybe my dolls wanted kids. It surely never crossed my mind, so it didn't enter theirs. Even baby dolls were uninteresting to me. Give me a stack of Pokemon cards and I'd challenge you in a battle before you can say "Gotta catch em' all!"
What really solidified my decision to be childfree was having an example of a childfree lifestyle. I know some adults who do not have any children, and they live happy lives. They are able to travel when they like, go out whenever they choose, and they seem to really enjoy it. I imagine myself in maybe 10 or 15 years time, being married, having 1,000 dogs, traveling with my hubby, and living the best life without having children.
Another big reason why I don't want kids is childbirth. It scares the living daylights out of me! I don't care how "natural" people say it is, there is nothing natural about a human being squeezed out of a tiny opening in my body and writhing in pain. Before any mothers say, "It does hurt, but it's beautiful in the end when you hold your child", I could care less. I have just pushed a baby out of my vagina. That ain't beautiful in my book.
I do have to say, babies are cute. They smell strangely nice, and make great hot water bottles, but having one of my own is too much responsibility for me to handle. I have panic disorder, which turns something trivial in real life into a raging disaster in my mind. I can honestly say that I have cried over my mom once because she wasn't answering her phone and I thought she was dead in a ditch.Thankfully, it turned out she just left her phone in the car when she was visiting a friend. (Damn woman gave me heart attack!)
But by choosing to be childfree, I know that I am going to face criticism. I know that there will be comments about how I'm "selfish" for physically being able to have children and choosing not to. Don't worry folks, our population isn't dwindling. Another common argument faced when choosing not to have kids is that "once you grow up, you'll change your mind". I've heard my own family members say it to me. If I do change my mind when I'm older, so be it. But at this time in my life, I can not imagine children in the future, and I would appreciate keeping your comments to yourself.
Making huge life choices at the age of 19 is daunting, but I feel so comfortable with the idea of living a life without having my own children. I could be an aunt someday, and I will love that! I want to focus on my future career, my future dogs, my future husband, and my future adventures without worrying about children. It is not "selfish" that I choose this lifestyle. It is selfless because I know that if I did have kids, I would most likely regret it. Children deserve to be loved unconditionally and I'll leave that job up to the women and men who look forward to that future.
Stay gold.
