Do you know someone who refuses to get married? Or have children? A coworker of mine is receiving a lot of flack from others because she doesn't want to get married, ever. She's been with her boyfriend for about 3-4 years but flat out refuses to consent to marriage. And she doesn't want children either. I even know a couples guys who refuse to get married. I mean, people seem to make a big deal out of those who don't want the typical life.
I have never understood why people worry about how other people choose to live their life especially when it does not concern them. .
Anyhoo I don't really understand not wanting to get married especially since she is in a long term relationship. There are so many benefits to getting married (if you are meant for eachother). I definitively crave a long lasting marriage more than children.
However I can understand children. Raising children isn't some trivial decision. Its a lifetime deal that doesn't end even when they turn 18. to me it feels like these days you have to rich to have children.
erplexed
You have to save up for their college tuition even before they are born, you have to have really good health care to make sure they are healthy, you have to make sure you have enough money so you can life a in a good neighborhood so that they can get great education (or pay for private) etc. Its just a lot to think about.
Raising children doesn't end at financial obligations. For me to be the parent I want to be and wish my parents were to me I am going to need to make them a priority. That means going to whatever activities that they have, making sure that I am talking to their teachers/counselors, and make sure that I talk to them and get to know them so they come to me and not their friends.
I just think that marriage and child rearing are just such a natural progression in life that when people express they do not want to experience them they are viewed as strange, weird, or something is wrong with them.
ETA: no I do not know anyone in that boat.
