Family, babies…WHAT?

There are many questions in life but the two that carry the most pressure are -
1. When are you getting married? Followed swiftly by;
2. When are you having kids?

I am sure the girls will have noticed that men NEVER get bombarded with these questions, it is always the woman. The truth is that, for the most part, we are hard wired, well, can you blame us? Let me explain…

Throughout the ages spinsterhood has never been something to aspire too. When I was about 21 an elderly aunt turned to me and said, “My dear, you need to start settling down – don’t want to be left all alone on the shelf now, do we?”. Lets face it, when you reach a certain age and have not yet managed to snag yourself a man you begin to feel certain pressures. Once you have got said man the pressures increase and the above two questions start coming to the fore.

Men on the other hand have it great. They are bachelors, even the word sounds exciting. No single female shouts from the roof tops .. ‘I’m a SPINSTER!’. But the boys are BACHELORS, it is cool, suave with a devil may care attitude thrown in for spice. It doesn’t matter if you’re 35, living with mom and a belly spilling over your trousers .. you’re a single manly stud!

Getting married evens things out, there is only one label and one more question… that’s right folks – when are you having kids. The bells have barely stopped ringing before this question rears its head.

The thing is, what if you don’t want kids? (how controversial)

Luckily we do not have to answer that question as the fact is we would like to have children. At some stage… therein lies the problem! Grand-children, nephews, nieces and cousins are expected, sooner rather than later. A few months a go my 6 year old niece requested that we produce another cousin for her as soon as possible, oh if it were that simple.

For instance, when are you ready to take that leap? In the 21st century people are waiting longer to get married and have children. You’ve now had that much more time to live a delightfully selfish existence. All that FREEDOM.

I suppose the trick is not to think about it, close your eyes and leap blindly into the abyss of parenthood with a packet of wet wipes in one hand and every emergency number you know in the other!!