In the old days, there was a tradition in many countries, and even an official rule, that after reaching a certain age, people who did not start a family or have children were subject to a special tax or paid fines. Today, our society has come very far from such views, and sometimes family people envy their single friends.
Of course, we in no way want to say that family and children are bad. On the contrary, it's amazing, but let's admit to ourselves - can any mother or father say they've never dreamed for a moment of returning to their childless days for at least a couple of hours? They definitely have.
Just recently, blogger McErin wrote a tweet that literally confirms what we have already said. The woman is the only one in her office who is not married and has no children, and when colleagues discussed a bunch of family matters over the past weekend, she simply told them that she went to the farmers market... and that's it. As the original poster wrote, after her words, three of her coworkers gasped and one even cried...
The tweet almost immediately went viral, with 212.5K likes and 10.1K retweets so far. And, well, almost a thousand people decided to share similar stories from their own experience.
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The Original Poster told her colleagues how easy it is to spend the weekend being childless, which caused a dramatic reaction
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Scientists say that there are three major benefits of being childless
In her article "Advantages and Disadvantages of Being Childfree" on the Psychology Today website, Ph.D. Ellen Walker lists three major benefits of being childless. First, you have time for self-care and for other relationships. Second, you can dedicate your time to your career or to other interests that will help the world as a whole.
Finally, the world will be less crowded and resources less depleted. However, this position also has it's own disadvantages - it's just that at certain moments, the benefits are more noticeable.
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The OP states that her initial tweet is nothing more than an attempt to perceive the situation with humor
By the way, the Original Poster herself noted that her initial tweet should be taken as nothing more than an attempt to perceive the situation with humor. The fact is that, as is often the case on the internet, a heated argument broke out in the comments between staunch childfree people and adherents of traditional family values.
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In fact, each position in this discussion is worth respect - as long as it is spoken politely
In fact, the most important thing here is to have respect for those who one position or another, and try not to judge people simply because their lifestyle or beliefs do not match yours. As one of the author's comments wrote, "I like that I have a family, but I totally respect those who do not want to have children."
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The childfree position is sometimes still heavily criticized by relatives and friends
Leslie-Ashburn Nardo, a psychology professor at Indiana University, co-wrote an academic study on this very topic. "Relative to targets who had chosen to have two children, voluntarily childfree women and men were penalized by perceivers," says professor Nardo.
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"Specifically, they were perceived as leading less fulfilling lives than do people who had chosen to have children," notes Nardo. "Moreover, their decision to forgo parenthood, arguably individuals' most personal choice, evoked moral outrage - anger, disgust, and disapproval." Actually, it is believed that parents' attempts to self-realize through their own children harm not only the kids, but also the parents themselves.
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By the way, sometimes it happens that people who decide not to have children become active pet lovers, and even replace parenthood with them. Sometimes this leads to funny situations - for example, as with this dog mom, the heroine of this post on Bored Panda. And we, as usual, highly appreciate your comments and our own stories on this topic.