Comments on: A Life Without Debt: The Decision to Remain Childless

By: shellsounds1

shellsounds1 — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:50:28 +0000

To Texas girl: I am horrified and disgusted that YOU were a therapist and counselor. Now I am as concerned with your choice to be a mother. Yes, please stay home with your brood.And never apply your lack of skills to any one but your own again.

By: saundra

saundra — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 23:50:17 +0000

I don’t want to snorkel in the Galapagos, I don

By: Vi

Vi — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:09:27 +0000

All of the comments are very interesting, but I have to agree with Joy the most. Whether or not to have children is a very difficult decision, whichever way you decide. We are all just trying to make the best decisions for ourselves with what limited knowledge we have, especially of the future. It is true – bless us all for trying, & wish the best for all of us to make our own right decisions for ourselves, even if it is not the right decision for someone else. And if it turns out to be not the best decision for us, help us to be able to live with that.

By: Joy

Joy — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:57:51 +0000

This is a powerfully emotional topic because once you make the decision one way or the other, it’s so profoundly life-determining. And we are made to “justify” our decisions. Either we are called “childless and selfish,” or we are called “breeders” contemptuously.

We are all people, some making new humans, some not. I’m a single mother of a little girl. She was my heart’s desire my whole life. But I know my life can be so freaking hard because I have to work a stressful job I hate because I need that good money. Life is messy and hard for most, and bless us all for trying to make the best choices we can with whatever we know about ourselves and the world.

By: deegee

deegee — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:42:17 +0000

Stephanie, you totally miss the point when you say, “All the hardship and stress that kids may bring is a drop in the bucket.”

That may be true for YOU, for childfree people like ME, the hardship and stress we would add to our lives if we had them is not only insurmountable and intolerable but also has ZERO upside, starting with screwing up my finances and ending my early retirement.

And why do you try to equate liking ice cream to wanting to have kids? You have drunk too much of the Kool-Aid with the so-called “Life Script” of having kids. (By the way, I can’t eat ice cream any more because it freezes my teeth and causes me lots of pain.)

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:23:58 +0000

I respect your decision and don’t think in any way that you are being selfish. I have a “live and let live” about other people’s lifestyles.

So I am not being critical when I say this, I am just amazed, much like a child would be to find out there are people in the world who don’t like ice cream. I have a STRONG maternal instinct and all my goals and plans through my entire life centered around one fact: One day I will be a mother. That’s not to say that I don’t have other identities, but being a mother is as central to who I am as being a woman, or even being a human being.

All the hardship and stress that kids may bring is a drop in the bucket. So many of the most beautiful wonderful things in life are hard. Getting out of bed is hard, but it’s hardly living if you don’t.

By: Breton Wench

Breton Wench — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:02:04 +0000

Interesting reading.
But spare a thought for those of us who did NOT plan for these little surprises. We knew from the start of our marriage that kids were not on the cards due to infertility, but husband and I were unperturbed and not worried about being childless.
Finding that I was suddenly pregnant – with twins! – was infinitely more worrying.

Nine years later and we love them to bits, for richer or poorer.

By: A Life Without Debt: Whatever Will I Do In My Old Age? - SavingAdvice.com Blog

A Life Without Debt: Whatever Will I Do In My Old Age? - SavingAdvice.com Blog — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:03:15 +0000

[...] couple of weeks ago I wrote about our decision to remain child-free and how that decision (while not based on money) has made it easier for us to remain out of debt. [...]

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:32:57 +0000

Don’t forget that children expect inheritances, so don’t count on spending your retirement money on yourself!! I am so glad I am not having kids. I would totally resent someone taking over my freedom, cash, free time, my love of animals. I am donating my money to a Veteranarian teaching hospital, and I am a proud fur mother.

By: AngryReptileKeeper

AngryReptileKeeper — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:14:49 +0000

“We