Jeannie Mai’s Pregnancy is Why We Can Never Say Never
Alt title: The perfect sequel to my viral post from 2017 (and congrats Jeannie!)
“You’re not emotionally ready. That’s why you don’t want to have children.”
Emotionally ready?
When Jeannie Mai’s pregnancy news was shared today, I thought back to this recent conversation with my aunt about my lack of desire to procreate. She was trying to convince me that being in the right relationship would make me suddenly emotionally ready to have kids.
I balked.
I’m thirty-three years old and there is literally nothing within me that wants to have a baby. I have been a teacher, a tutor, a youth counsellor and a camp counsellor. I’ve had my fill of children. I don’t look wistfully at baby clothes at Wal-Mart. I’ve never been one to scurry over to the new mother at church so that I could hold her baby. I look at parents with fussy toddlers and crying babies and silently thank my lucky stars that is not me (read: sucks to be you and my heart goes out to you, of course). I’ve laid prostrate on my living room floor, thankful that I’m not crisis parenting and homeschooling during a pandemic (Jesus, I love you and you always know what is best. Amen.). I’ve joined “childfree” and “I regret having children” groups on…
