Of course and I better be invited to yours too!

Duh, who cares that I'm like 101.

this is why I love you.

the childfree life is the best life.

we can afford everything we should ever want, never have to worry about babysitters or shit pants, and we have the freedom to travel or really do anything we please.

we have such a perfect life. children are unnecessary - leave it to the breeders, they can have the next generation of cattle.

I don't know about that. You live with Ki.

Don't worry, it's not an angry attack on you. It's just discussing an interesting topic. You know, like some people do on discussion forums. ;)


Cattle?

Oh well, this brings up an interesting point, even if I suspect for the wrong reasons. Are people who have children happier or not than people who don't?

If you want to maximize happiness in your life, should you have children or not?

It's a toss up. Some people really hate kids and see them as life-draining screaming little goblins, and others find it amazing that they can bring life into the world and try to help them to be a great person. For every Ki and Lis, there is a Chula.

Either way, the human race is ****ed.

Actually, now that I think about it, I think Lis and Ki would make great parents. I can imagine Ki teaching them how to play violent video games, while Lis spins her favorite records. They seem pretty self-conscious about the whole thing, like they believe that they would make horrible parents, but I think that doubt would drive them to be a lot more careful and truly loving than many other parents (who just assume that their parenting skills are amazing, and everything that goes wrong is the child's fault).

It's only a matter of time before the ants have their rebellion. :laughing:

I'm gonna strongly disagree with your statement here. I tried to the point of self destruction to include my daughters mother in a family setting, but in the end she only injected hatred, jealousy, and basically, just insanity into it. She was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, as well as having multiple personalities. She did things to my daughter and me in the 3 years she was with us that I really don't care to share here, so although your statement may be true in most situations, there are exceptions.

I've raised my daughter being a single father, and she's a beautiful, compassionate, and intelligent person, which probably wouldn't be the case if I had allowed her mother stay. Her mother has been a source of teaching for me though, mainly showing my daughter how unhealthy thought patterns, and self destructive behavior can destroy her life. We both treat her mother as a sort of science experiment, but I've always stressed to my daughter that no matter what her mother does to her, she still loves her very much, and is just "Not well", which she's accepted and embraced. It's what I had to inject into the dynamic of the whole situation in order to keep some sort of balance. Children need to know that the people who created them are at least halfway decent human beings even though they sometimes don't act like it.

Of course. I'm the result of one.

Not married. No kids. Am 34.

I don't really have the inclination to go through with it. I don't feel like there's anything there except an expectation from others. It's funny, we were just talking about this at work on Thursday when a potential hire came through to meet us and get a feel for the environment. We ended up talking about family, etc. and when my boss got to me, asking if I was ever going to shack up I just yelled "NOPE". It has become an automatic response now, but when I think about it, it's not as if I'm actively trying not to get married and have kids... it's that I'm not actively trying TO.

There isn't a sense of urgency. I don't feel like kids are a legacy and I don't feel an obligation to the human race.

Of course, I say that because I don't have kids, therefore I am on the other side of my own possible feelings about the matter in that I don't have them and therefore am not qualified to know how I'd feel about them in that context. But as far as marriage is concerned, apart from an act of commitment, I don't view it as much more than a societal tradition.

I'm open to it, I guess. I'm just not thinking about it as some sort of requirement or goal.
I'm sure I'll regret it on my death bed, should I never start a family of my own, but goddamn if I'm going to not live my entire life the way I want for the sake of having someone to hold my hand when I'm sh*tting the bed during my final hours in a rest home.