"Coo", get it? As in baby noises. Or as in crazy noises.
Yesterday I worked from home. Turned on the tube between laundry and Outlook exercises to watch the Katie Couric show. She was talking about infertility.
Blah blah blah stuff about babies and women wanting to be moms and stuff that is totally foreign to me. Cut to me sitting on the edge of the couch, clean pile of tees and unread emails forlorn, mouth agape and eyes glued.
Wha wha, hol' up. 28?!
Come with me on this head journey for a minute:
You're telling me that a 27 year old girl who doesn't want kids, but she doesn't know the future and what if this "biological clock" thing is true and what if hers rings at 45 and she's 3 years into early onset menopause and she's ruined and filled with regret for all eternity ... should optimally have her mind made up by NEXT YEAR?!
breathe into a bag. gasp. sigh. eye roll.
Fug. Dat.*
The biological clock, alone, is not a good reason to have kids.
Just because you like someone's vacation photos of beaches, beers and boat ventures doesn't mean that traveling to Central America wasn't filled with sun burns, severe language barriers and slight dysentery. Everything looks great through a filter. Careful editing. Hindsight.
Parenthood is forever. It's not glamorous. It's not a status symbol. Or a badge of honor**. Or an identity***.
I'm not anti-parenting or anti-baby for anyone who wants that AND will put in a modest effort.
I'm anti-everyone-must-parent-because-uterus-that's-why.
My heart goes out to everyone who wants to be a parent but can't. As much as it does anyone who wants to eat food every day but can't. Or who wants to go to school but can't. Or who wants to walk but can't.
I'm just so over the equation of family = kids. What about the deliberately childless? What about us?
And for those who think that living your whole life without children is selfish, what about living your whole life in pursuit of a mini-me? ****
Mic drop.
---
* And if I somehow want kids next year, please feel free to verbally flog me.
** Look at Honey Boo Boo's mom. Want to claim a lifeboat with her? (Not a fat joke, honest.)
*** It can be a big part of who you are, but it shouldn't be everything. Take it from the Queen, H. Clinton.
**** I may need to join a support group.
