A "serious" topic from me again... I've wanted to speak my mind on this for a while and I finally got a chance to do so
Day 27: Children
Children have been a hot topic in our countryâs media for pretty much all this year. The birth rates are record low with only under 50,000 babies being born last year. Politicians, researches and experts have been trying to encourage young people to make children and that has created some buzz too, not in a very good way. But it has made me think too and Iâve come to a conclusion that I donât really want kids for several reasons. Iâm not going to be super serious with this (I hope) but I think the idea of woman not wanting to have kids is still a weird concept to many people. âYouâll change your mind when you see babiesâ, âYour biological clock will start ticking too, just waitâ, âYouâre still young, youâll change your mind.â. There are obviously problems with low birth rates, like lack of taxpayers in the future but having kids is not problem free either.
Kids are really expensive. They eat a lot, they need clothes, you need to pay for their education, hobbies etc. Those are of course things we all need but if you only need to buy food for one or two people instead of three or more, you save a lot of money. Same with clothes. Kids grow so fast you need to be buying clothes for them really often while you can use the same ones for months and years.
Kids are also a huge responsibility. Youâre legally responsible of them for 18 years but even after that you look after them at some way. You have to teach them good manners, make sure they eat healthily and get enough exercise, so they grow up healthy. What if they get bullied in school? What if they need help with issues I have no idea how to deal with? What if Iâm not good enough as a parent? For me itâs a very idea to think that I get a baby and then Iâm not capable of taking care of it properly. I feel like I can barely manage to take care of myself sometimes.
Iâm also worried about the idea of bringing more people to this world. The Earth is already overpopulated and cannot very well support us all. At least not in a sustainable way. Climate change is going on and with it the whole world could change: floods, heat waves, new diseases, famine and lack of clean water, wars, natural disasters⌠Itâs quite scary to even think about that future for myself, let alone having to raise a new life in the middle of all that.
And I just donât really like kids. To me theyâre very tiring. They require so much attention it burns me out very quickly. Playing few hours with my young cousins already makes me hope I could be home relaxing, kid-free. I canât even imagine what itâd be like to have a kid around me 24/7. And they definitely donât get easier when they grow up.
Iâm not judging anyone who wants to have a kid. I totally understand that there are good things about children too. I guess itâs just not for me. And I just think that no one should be judged if they don't want to have kids and that decision should be respected, just as someone's decision to have kids should be respected.