not married, no kids. feel like I dodged a bullet

I mean I don't think we are disagreeing because I also know quite a few miserable couples with kids. For us, it would be hard to imagine not having children. Not bagging on anyone, to each their own, but we're happy.

How many times are you asked who you are dating? Are you getting married? Don't you want kids? Pretty annoying isn't it. And selfish to not provide your parents with grandchildren. Shame on you.

So?

How many? wrote:

How many times are you asked who you are dating? Are you getting married? Don't you want kids? Pretty annoying isn't it. And selfish to not provide your parents with grandchildren. Shame on you.

Selfish? No jerkoff, selfish would be bringing people into this world to please others. Having kids to please your parents? Are you mormon or something?

Insane how the bootlickers really come out of the woodwork when it comes to marriage/kids. They want to drag you right into hell and be miserable with them.

No joke, it's extremely sad when old people have no family to take care of them. My wife is a hospice nurse so we see it quite a bit. Your dog and "friends" don't care about you enough to take care of when you're old and physically handicapped. In the short term, no kids is the more attractive option but statistically men with kids have longer, happier lives.

People want you to be just like them, so they won’t feel afraid they made the wrong choice in life.

east coast wrote:

I look at my married with kids brethren and can only surmise that I took the right path.

If you were from previous generations I'd argue that but the truth is that nowadays you are probably correct - the rampant consumerist society positively pushes the middle age divorce / separation of couples through laughable idealism of what a relationship should be in the media. And to what end? To make us all "happier"? Laughable...

It's able one thing and one thing only - increasing sales.

It's * about * one thing and one thing only - increasing sales.

Our tax code favors getting married and owning a personal residence

east coast, wrote:

Insane how the bootlickers really come out of the woodwork when it comes to marriage/kids. They want to drag you right into hell and be miserable with them.

Now imagine deciding matrimony is not for you in a traditional society like Kenya. People react exactly the same as you see here and then some. They’ll try to convince you, and themselves, that you’re not (or can’t) be happy. Friends and relatives will pile the pressure on and take it upon themselves to arrange introductions and dates (all unsolicited). Just like here, they’ll throw out the usual he ‘must bes’: selfish (as rationale), gay (as provocation) or call you westernised (as an insult).

My favourites are those who post generic happy family/lives pictures on social media when everybody knows it’s a facade and all fake.

So if Megan Fox asked you to move in with her and bang her every day you'd turn her down?

Doclove wrote:

So if Megan Fox asked you to move in with her and bang her every day you'd turn her down?

That isn’t marriage.

I hate to break it to you, but you could have all the family and friends in the world and still feel alone. Not sure if you’ve ever TRULY experienced loneliness and isolation. If you haven’t, good on you, it’s UNCOMFORTABLE and you’re ALONE WITH YOUR THOUGHTS. But honestly, why would it matter whether or not you die lonely? When you’re dead, you’re dead.

What about those of us who are truly at our happiest when we are alone? Loneliness never comes into play as I tend to find most individuals quite irritating. Take travelling for example. I long discovered that when I do it with someone or a group, there’s often constraints and strife involved providing for a less enjoyable experience.

Tayken wrote:

At some point in life, one partner will pass away before the other and we all end up being alone anyway.

And I guess at some point we all die, so why do anything?

If half of your married friends are getting divorced, the other half are not.

Half-empty much? Look at the pessimism in your post! Even when you friends don't say they're miserable, you KNOW they are.

Lots of people are not cut out for parenting means lots of other people are.

Work harder to strengthen your critical thinking skills. There is a difference between evidence and mere justification for an unfounded point of view.

I would like to be somewhat reasonable. Here are some things:

I'm married, one kid, 30-35 age group at your local turkey trot

- I was married for almost 10 years before having kids. The post-nuptial shutoff is real, and quite a bit more severe after having a baby. It sucks, but I love my wife. I just try to nail her whenever I get the chance. A previous poster was right (a little over the top) about being selfish, you realize how selfish you are once you're married, and you REALLY realize it when you have a kid. Still, I think realizing and accepting that is good for you as a person. That doesn't mean you need to run out and get married and start cranking out babies. I'd never go back though.

You didn’t choose the single life with no kids. The single life with no kids chose you.