10.
“When I was a kid, I was certain I wanted to have a bunch of children. This lasted all the way through college, in fact. I used to say I wanted to be finished having them by the time I was 30. I also thought I wanted to drive them around in a Volvo Station Wagon like that was the ultimate prize (it was the ’80s…I don’t know). Then, in the ’90s, my friends started having kids right around the time I found a career that I loved. Suddenly, my ambitions changed. I never wanted to be a working mother — I know myself. That’s a juggling act I didn’t want to attempt. Mostly, though, I found myself looking at friends, colleagues, and even strangers with gorgeous babies, and my main thought was, ‘Better you than me!’ And that’s when I knew it wasn’t for me.”
“The funny thing is, despite the societal pressure (especially back then), and although I never planned it, a lot of my oldest friends don’t have kids either (male and female friends).
We’re in our fifties now (holy fuck!!!) and free as the wind. Maybe it’s the career I chose or the independent people I’ve attracted, but I don’t find myself as the sole childless one in a sea of parents. I think that that’s what scares some women, being the ‘odd one’ out if they don’t have kids. It definitely doesn’t have to be that way.”
