Here goes a touchy subject..... (one that has been discussed several times here in this blog actually)...

First, I must start with the disclaimer that there are times where I'm not sure where my step-mom is coming from regarding what she is thinking. I mean, she's hard to read at times. Sometimes she can say something that she totally means to be a nice thing but it comes across differently. I'm not sure why this is. Perhaps she's not good at semantics? I dunno.

And by the way, Sis, this is not at ALL a dig on her... just an observation that leads into my blog entry today... I love her dearly...

Ok. So on with the show. While visiting Karyl, Marty apparently packed a Newsweek magazine in her bag so that she could read a particular article on how Darwin and Lincoln had an effect on history. (Sounds like a realllllly good read, right? That would have been of interest to me!) Anyway, she came across this article and tore it out of her magazine and mailed it to me.

The title of the magazine: "Childless Couples".

Hmm....

Interestingly enough, the article went on to talk about how statistically these people are much happier and satisfied in their personal lives as well as their marriages than couples *with* children. It also pointed to a statistic that indicated with the birth of the first child, marital satisfaction significantly decreases. (I am not making this up; this was in the article.) It also pointed out that marital satisfaction and happiness does not rise or increase again until the last child leaves the home.

Now, here's where I'm a bit confused by my stepmom sending this article to me. I don't consider myself part of a "Childless Couple". I consider myself to be part of a couple who hasn't had a child yet. For my own definition of "Childless Couple" I consider people who have made a conscious decison to NEVER have kids as fitting this description. And, I don't have an issue with people making that decision. There are LOTS of people who were not meant to be parents and yet, they are. And, there are tons of people out there who would make excellent parents and yet, they cannot conceive. Having a child (or deciding not to) is a personal decision. I respect people who make the decision not to for the simple fact that I believe too many people get caught up into the societal expectations that once they are married, they s h o u l d have a child. I don't subscribe to that. If a couple wants to have a family, great. If not--- well, that's good, too. Like I said, it's a personal decision.

Ben and I have discussed the decision regarding having a child and have come to the conclusion that we do want one.... in the future. Now, I get the fact that you're never really financially "ready" to have a child, but right now with the way that the economy is going (into the toilet) and the housing market and salaries, etc., I don't feel it would be a responsible decision for *US* to have a baby right now. I'm young, vibrant, healthy... I still got a little time on my side.

So for now, I like to think of myself as just not having a child YET, rather than a CHILDLESS person. Does that make sense?

Until next time...peace, love & HEALTH!!!