• teft@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      32
      ·
      4 months ago

      and the life experience they bring.

      Preach. Some of us took care of our younger siblings when we were teenagers and that opened our eyes to how shit kids can be.

      • BubbleMonkey@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        23
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        I babysat my cousin’s 3 kids under 5 for the year I lived in their basement (free rent trade)

        And above all the noise and hassle and all, the day I knew kids definitely weren’t for me… was the day the parents went out for one of their “be home tomorrow, probably” nights, knowing full well at least one of the kids had the flu.

        It ended up being all three of them. All I did all night was give baths, sooth crying, change bedding, and clean up vomit.

        I managed to keep them alive and relatively comfortable, but I don’t ever want to do anything even close to that ever again.

        • teft@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          For me it was opening a door finding my sister, her crib, and every surface in her room covered in shit. I cleaned her up but closed the door to her room and left the rest to the parental units and said ‘never again’.

          • Natanael@slrpnk.net
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            4 months ago

            I’ve had 3x nephews over for several days in a row, more than once. Oh god no thanks I won’t have children of my own. Was sure of it already as a teen long before that, have not changed my mind since.

      • Aviandelight @mander.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        4 months ago

        Shout out to all my fellow latchkey/free babysitter folks out there. I still resent that I never had a “real” summer vacation growing up.

    • blattrules@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      4 months ago

      Yeah, societal pressure to have children is ridiculous; I figured that I never felt any kind of desire to have a kid and that should be reason enough to not have one.

    • LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      4 months ago

      My mom is REALLY hoping that I have children and can’t accept that she’ll never be a grandmother. Best I can give her is animals

    • IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      4 months ago

      I’m very close to you but I did get married in my late 40’s and my wife was mid-40’s. Neither of us ever wanted kids, nor had either of us ever considered marriage until we met each other. The marriage is more about dealing with elderly parents, insurance, shared assets like our home, etc. than anything else.

    • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      Going against the grain is tough. As long as no one is hurt, you and I don’t care for not conforming. But the reality is that others don’t care what we care, and relish in putting down those who do not conform. But as Albert Camus said: “if you can’t win, resist.”