Greetings Everyone,
This is the March 2016 Edition of The ChildFree Times, in this article are all the links to posts that I have looked at for the Month of March and for the most part all of them where published in this month as well. The idea of this is to have a months worth of linked articles for anyone who wishes to read ChildFree based articles with the odd childless in the mix as some people use the two term interchangeably in their meaning.
There are two sections to this page, the articles and at the bottom the only link to a Pinterest account that was mentioned for the month of March, no mentions of video’s or the like for this month have I found maybe next month will prove more fruit full in this regards, till next month take care everyone!
A Child-Free Christian’s Plea to the Church – I’m not here to argue about whether having kids is good or bad, exegete Genesis to debate whether procreation is a divine mandate, or start any other kind of dispute. It’s a shame that the subject of children is so often twisted into an us-versus-them or even a right-versus-wrong issue. It needn’t be divisive.
The Child-Free Woman – Based on observation, many people have children because they’re “supposed to,” or it happened and they went along with it, but it’s something they feel they should have done in a different time frame or with a different person. Family, society, and other’s own anxieties put pressure on individuals to have children that may or may not be ready for them, can’t have them, or even want them. Many people find articles similar to this as irritating, and seem to think they put one side against the other.
Letter: Arguing for Childfree Restaurants – I was searching for childfree restaurants in the NoVA area the other day and could not find one. There needs to be some restaurants with a strict rule of not allowing kids into their establishment.
Airlines Ask: What Are You Willing To Pay For – While one-fourth of Americans would buy an upgrade to a better class of seat on a long flight, 18 percent said they would pay for a child-free zone on flights exceeding 12 hours. In that case, Americans are more patient with children than some other fliers; 41 percent of Mexicans, 38 percent of citizens of Thailand and 37 percent of those from Taiwan would want a child-free airplane seat.
Professor Kimya Dennis on her College Course, The Childfree – Last year I had the pleasure of interviewing Kimya Dennis, Assistant Professor at Salem College, who was teaching the sociology course, The Childfree, for the first time, and was using my book, The Baby Matrix, as part of the curriculum. She is now in the midst of teaching this course for the second time, and graciously let me ask about how it is going.
Being Childfree On Mother’s Day – But here’s an interesting thing to consider, centuries before it became about perfume deals and exclusive set-price menus in restaurants, Mother’s Day started out with the Ancient Greeks honouring Titian Rhea, earthly goddess and the wife of Cronus. Rhea was worshiped as the ‘Great Mother’, “a goddess of the powers of nature and the arts of cultivation,”
Selfish, Shallow, and Self- Absorbed – I just finished reading (well, listening to) “Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids”. Overall, I really enjoyed it. As an intentionally childless adult it was nice to listen to likeminded individuals explain their reasons for deciding not to have children.
10 Reasons Why All Moms Need Childfree Friends – Before we get into this, let me clarify “childfree.” Childfree in this context shall be defined here as a person who does not have children, or actively chooses not to have children.
Forget mums and celebrate the genuine stars… aunties! – I know it’s Mother’s Day today for two reasons. First, I’ve had a deluge of emails from PRs paid thousands to promote big brands, along the lines of, ‘Dear [Space], Are you planning any features on Mother’s Day?’ Yes, I am now just known as ‘Dear’ – I don’t deserve a name because my womb has never been occupied.
Childless or Childfree, Three Rules to Guide you Through Life – It always makes me smile to see the way that so many mothers exude a protective love for stranger’s children. I’ve heard my friends respond to headlines about some wayward, even criminal teen with ‘That’s somebody’s child.” Children’s charities have a leg up with them in fundraising. Every child is their child, and they pray that other, good mothers, feel the same about theirs.
We’ve placed motherhood on such a high pedestal we’ve forgotten the huge pros of being a child-free woman – As a society we’ve placed motherhood on a ridiculously high pedestal, from the Virgin Mary through to the current cult of online parenting and celebrity mums. These mothers in the public eye, who are some of the most successful headline-grabbers and whose buying decisions often inspire and influence other mums-to-be, are part of an industry forecast to be worth £463million in sales by 2019 according to Euromonitor.
Ministry to the Childfree and those with Nontraditional Families – As I grow older, I become more and more aware that I’m part of an odd, niche demographic. Church events advertised for families often mean “families with children,” and church ministries often focus on those perceived to be the most vulnerable or most lonely: the children, the elderly, the bereaved, and those in material need. Graduated out of the newlywed crew and on our way into too old for the “young professionals” – we’re 33 and 34, respectively – my husband and I often exist on the periphery of the congregations we attend.
Kate Fox Talks About Being Child-Free – The ‘SEX’ strand of Manchester Metropolitan University’s (Manchester Met) Humanities in Public festival concluded last week with an event entitled ‘Being Child-Free with Kate Fox’. The event, supported by Manchester’s Wonder Women festival, was hosted by Manchester Met Senior Lecturer in English Dr Ginette Carpenter who welcomed special guest, performance poet, comedian and writer, Kate Fox.
Four More Reasons You may Not Admit to Wanting Kids – Around age 30 it seems both men and woman without children hit this evolutionary hurdle that jumpstarts them into baby-making mode. All of a sudden people who never discussed wanting children can’t seem to keep anything else on their minds.
Child-Free, Me & The IUD – Most people tell me my “clock” just hasn’t gone off yet, that someone with my “mothering potential” will surely come to her senses. When I was first married at 24, I was told that after the honeymoon year I’d start hearing baby feet in my head. Then I turned 25 and it became “You have plenty of time, just wait till you hit 30!” And when 30 came and went, suddenly the clock was going to “go off any day now”, or at least by 35. Point being, I have found that most people I meet (including my former Gynecologist) have a hard time accepting or understanding that I don’t have kids yet and might not ever want to. I’ve even had one woman (an essential stranger) tell me “You better make your husband a baby or he’ll find someone who will.” It’s always surprising (sometimes hurtful) to me when people take my child free choice as a negative. And while I can’t say that I’ve known from birth that babies weren’t for me, this certainly isn’t a position I came to lightly, or over night.
Want a child-free escape? Try this historic inn on Dartmoor – If you pay a visit to the delightful little Devon town of Chagford at certain times during the year you could easily end up bringing home an acquisition you bought in a bout of bidding fever. Because on four occasions across 12 months, Chagford generates more rural hustle and bustle than usual when the auction comes to town.
Childfree by Choice: An Open Letter – I find it funny that being a straight woman of childbearing age, I am told I will never know what real unconditional love is if I do not choose to bring a child into this world. I find it funny that the same person willing to say this also tends to be the same person who negates such belief for homosexual women and men. Apparently because they have same-sex partners, they should be denied such privilege of raising a child and experiencing this real unconditional love in their lives. Why does one’s sexuality dictate one’s ability to parent?
5 reasons I’m happy not to be a mother – You’ve probably noticed the latest Facebook tag-a-friend picture game called the ‘Motherhood Dare,’ where mothers are nominated to publish pictures that make them “feel happy to be a Mom.” So you post some pics of the kiddos, of you with those kiddos, and share a little something about why you are happy to be a mother.
Don’t Dump Your Child-Free Friends – They remind us who we are. When I had my first child, my closest friend wasn’t a mom. It didn’t matter. We could still talk about books and movies and everything else we talked about before, as well as some of the new ins and outs of my life as a mom. But mom life wasn’t all we had to talk about. This became a wonderful relief later.
Childless professional faces scheduling frustrations – I’m a singleton, never married, no children. I consider myself a PANK (Professional Aunt No Kids.) In my personal and professional life, I feel I make more concessions than my friends and co workers with children.
Stop Taxing 8 Million Childless Adults Into Poverty – Childless adults are the only group that the federal tax code taxes into poverty, our new paper explains, primarily because they’re the only group of low-income workers largely excluded from the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC for childless adults is too small — or, for many, non-existent — to offset their income taxes and the employee share of their payroll taxes.
Childless by Choice – Safer says the common thread between those who were childless by choice was the fear they would regret it later. But she asserts that the choice to be a parent is like any other choice—there are trade-offs.
Helen Mirren talks about choosing to be childless – But having children has never appealed to Helen, who has two stepchildren from husband Hackford’s previous relationship, but she admits there has been a moment when she mourned the “loss” of not experiencing being a mother.
PINETREST
ChildFree Don’t judge me for my own choice, I’m not judging you for yours… 🙂