Cheerfully child-free. Anyone else?

[goofygirl]

Bump

 

[LisaZee]

What's going on, ladies?

Can I just say that it is almost 9pm and neither DH or I have bothered to get out of our jammies!

"Say Anything" is on... one of my favorite movies of all time. I love Lloyd Dobbler. "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything. I don't want to buy anything that is sold or processed - or sell anything that is bought or processed - or process anything that is sold, bought, or processed."

Love him!

 

[WDWguru]

"I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen."

I (heart) John Cusack (well, all the Cusacks are pretty great)! I always thought his character in Gross Pointe Blank was Lloyd grown up.

 

[LisaZee]

I love it when he goes to the Gas N Sip after Diane breaks up with him, and his friends start rapping. "Lloyd, Lloyd - all null and void."

I thought I was the only one who saw Gross Pointe Blank! John Cusack is awesome. I am also a big Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer fan as well! I am such a wacko, I have some John Cusack t-shirts from Torrid - one with him holding up the boombox, one with him in the car and the famous pen line, and another one with him from Sixteen Candles!

Oh, and it's 9:46 and I'm still in my jammies. Ah, the life of the child-free!

 

[Aunt Michelle]

Hey girls! Good to see you! I am watching OLD movies because Tivo was good enough to record Rear Window, Vertigo and My Fair Lady! I love the scene where Audrey Hepburn is introduced at the ball in that absolutely gorgeous white dress. Am I showing my age?

 

[WDWguru]

Ohhhh Audrey is my idol. I want to be her when I grow up. One of my cats is named after her, because when we got her she was very elegant and thin with a long, graceful neck. Now she's a tub, so I'll apologize to Audrey right now.

Rear Window is my FAVORITE Hitchcock movie EVAH! Jeez, Audrey and Grace in one night - you'll have glamour overload if you're not careful!

And by the way, I never even thought about your age. Those movies are all classics. I'm "only" 37 and I love them all.

 

[WDWguru]

"Lloyd, Lloyd - all null and void."

"Listen to the truth you're tryin' to avoid, Lloyd!"

 

[Aunt Michelle]

Ohhhh Audrey is my idol. I want to be her when I grow up. One of my cats is named after her, because when we got her she was very elegant and thin with a long, graceful neck. Now she's a tub, so I'll apologize to Audrey right now.

Rear Window is my FAVORITE Hitchcock movie EVAH! Jeez, Audrey and Grace in one night - you'll have glamour overload if you're not careful!

And by the way, I never even thought about your age. Those movies are all classics. I'm "only" 37 and I love them all.

I don't know what it is, but I'd say you be hard pressed to find an actress today that can hold a candle to either of them from strictly a "she's beautiful" standpoint. I think Grace Kelly was just stunning. Rear Window is my favorite Hitchcock movie as well, but I do love To Catch a Thief just for Kelly and Cary Grant who is my favorite actor from that time as well. My favorite all time movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's, which I think was the best role Audrey Hepburn ever had.

 

[WDWguru]

Were we separated at birth?! I LOVE TCAT and Cary Grant is also my fave from that era - closely followed by Gene Kelly. I think George Clooney is a modern day version of Cary Grant, but you're right about there being no modern match for Audrey or Grace. Charlize Theron is the only one I can think of that I would even compare to Grace Kelly, but we know too much about our stars today. There's no mystery, which taints the glamour I think. I don't love Breakfast at Tiffany's but I do agree it's Audrey's best role. She's amazing in that. It certainly shut up everyone who was complaining about her getting cast despite a lack of talent at the time.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Wouldn't you know the ladies on this thread would have the best taste?

 

[LisaZee]

Ohhhh Audrey is my idol. I want to be her when I grow up. One of my cats is named after her, because when we got her she was very elegant and thin with a long, graceful neck. Now she's a tub, so I'll apologize to Audrey right now.

Ok, this reminds me of the Sex and the City episode in the last season where Charlotte gets that King Charles Spaniel that she names Elizabeth Taylor. Then the poor thing gets gang-banged at the dog park, and gets pregnant. Charlotte finds out, gets upset and yells "Elizabeth Taylor, mommy can't look at you right now!" I miss that show...

I have to admit I've never seen an Audrey Hepburn movie... But my curiosity is now peaked! I will have to see what's on cable and report back to you ladies after the weekend.

 

[Aunt Michelle]

Ok, this reminds me of the Sex and the City episode in the last season where Charlotte gets that King Charles Spaniel that she names Elizabeth Taylor. Then the poor thing gets gang-banged at the dog park, and gets pregnant. Charlotte finds out, gets upset and yells "Elizabeth Taylor, mommy can't look at you right now!" I miss that show...

I have to admit I've never seen an Audrey Hepburn movie... But my curiosity is now peaked! I will have to see what's on cable and report back to you ladies after the weekend.

Try Roman Holiday, or Sabrina (original version), or Funny Face (she plays opposite Fred Astaire)... if you can find them.

I miss Sex and the City too!

 

[LisaZee]

Ok, TOTALLY OT, but I got a visit from the Tag Fairy!

You like me! You really, really like me!

 

[goofygirl]

I've never seen Sex and the City all the way through. I tried watching it once and could not get into it at all.

I've also never saw an Audrey Hepburn film.

 

[Aunt Michelle]

Ok, TOTALLY OT, but I got a visit from the Tag Fairy!

You like me! You really, really like me!

Congrats! Thus far I have escaped notice of the Tag Fairy... who am I kidding?? She/he hates me!

 

[jodifla]

It sounds to me that you've always wanted children but waited 13 years to have them.

Choosing to have children eventually is different than choosing not to have children at all. You are not in the same category as someone who has chosen to never have children at all.

People who chose to be permanently CF face harsher judgement than those who want children someday. You probably have not experienced this judgement.
This is a place where the childfree can come and support each other , and yes, sometimes we vent about the judgements being made against us. If you take our venting as being "negative" or "begrudging", well I'm sorry you feel that way.

Actually, no, I never wanted children. My DH always wanted children. I didn't change my mind until I was 35, and my mother died. It occurred to me then how much of our relationship was as adults, and that the kid years I was dreading are a small fraction of an overall life.

So, I changed my mind.

BUT...I TOTALLY GET how annoying it is to have people hounding you all the time to have kids! I had a dozen years of it. The constant lobbying, etc. etc. Don't you like kids? There's nothing like it..blah blah blah!

It's such a drag! It always signaled to me that somehow I wasn't enough, I need to have kids to somehow "count" as a person. I'm sure folks on this thread get that all time, and I remember how much it irked me. So for that, I'm sorry! I know childfree folks get this all the time.

My only point would be, this thread comes off pretty harsh on those of us with kids. Not all of us are out there lobbying you to have kids. I get why you chose to go a different path.

 

[Jennasis]

I was at my hair stylist's house yesterday (she works from hom). Her two young boys 5 and 7 were constantly poking their heads in the room to make goo-goo faces at me or to find ways to torment and annoy their mom, who was pretty peeved at them and kept having to chase them away...her husband was home at the time too, so no clue why he wasn't stepping up to keep the kiddos occupied. Her kids were cute, so I didn't mind their peek-a-boo games and stuff.

Then she launched intoa tirade about how lucky I was to not have kids and I should never have them (she knows I have none and don't want any), and how it changes the whole marriage blah blah blah.

It was a little bizarre!

The only people who still harangue us about kids are my DH's co-workers. People who know us personally know that we are adamant in our stance. His co-workers are CONSTANTLY harping on him (and me when I visit the office). It's very uncomfortable. I'm wondering if we should tell them that I'm infertile or something....well, then they'd probably get after us to adopt! There's no winning.

 

[jodifla]

I was at my hair stylist's house yesterday (she works from hom). Her two young boys 5 and 7 were constantly poking their heads in the room to make goo-goo faces at me or to find ways to torment and annoy their mom, who was pretty peeved at them and kept having to chase them away...her husband was home at the time too, so no clue why he wasn't stepping up to keep the kiddos occupied. Her kids were cute, so I didn't mind their peek-a-boo games and stuff.

Then she launched intoa tirade about how lucky I was to not have kids and I should never have them (she knows I have none and don't want any), and how it changes the whole marriage blah blah blah.

It was a little bizarre!

The only people who still harangue us about kids are my DH's co-workers. People who know us personally know that we are adamant in our stance. His co-workers are CONSTANTLY harping on him (and me when I visit the office). It's very uncomfortable. I'm wondering if we should tell them that I'm infertile or something....well, then they'd probably get after us to adopt! There's no winning.

Yes, with some people, there is no winning.

We went to my DH's 10th college reunion many moons ago, when we'd been married about 5 years, and when one of the alums from an older class found out we didn't have kids, and weren't really planning on any, she just set it. Didn't I like children? What about pets? Didn't I have any pets? The subtext was, wasn't I capable of loving SOMETHING? Then she launched into the STORY OF HER CHILDREN. She had nothing interesting to say EXCEPT about her kids.

When I asked about her DH, turns out, he ran away with his secretary. No wonder, I thought!

 

[CJBaby]

There are a good many people who can't get their heads around the concept that you can like kids but still not want to have your own.

That's funny to me because I am exactly the opposite. I don't have patience for any kids except for my own. In fact, I honestly wasn't going to have children because I had ZERO interest in them, and then I wasn't going to have a second because I felt like I was lucky with my first and didn't think I could handle another. Well, here I am with two awesome children! I knew I would regret not having them when I could, even if at the moment I wasn't sure.

But I have to say, I would NEVER try to convince anyone that doesn't want children to have them. It is a HUGE sacrifice, whatever the rewards, and if you force yourself to have children because of pressure, societal or otherwise, you are making a HUGE mistake! I am the one telling young and/or newly married couples to WAIT and make sure they have literally done everything they ever wanted to do, and even some things they didn't know they wanted to do because it's not a cliche that it's all over for many years once you have them. I don't know how many years, because I'm still in the throes of it.

So, childless people, enjoy your free time! Enjoy your long showers, late evenings out, and last-minute trips. Don't take for granted your ability to do whatever you want, whenever you want, including talking on the phone and using the bathroom!

I don't begruge your decision, and I know you don't begrudge mine.

 

[HappyLawyer]

wow, don't get me wrong i love my dtr more then life, but.........
in the next life if i remember i will take parenting into strong consideration.

 

[WDWguru]

I've never seen Sex and the City all the way through. I tried watching it once and could not get into it at all.

Same here! I tried multiple times, thinking I was just watching the wrong episodes, but I never "got it" either. And I love SJP! Go figure.

Congrats! Thus far I have escaped notice of the Tag Fairy... who am I kidding?? She/he hates me!

She hates me too. I once had two tags - well, sorta. The first one was just the tag I had already given myself that got colored by the TF. I don't really count that. The second was a quote that I don't even remember now, but I had spelled a word wrong for like two minutes and they happened to grab it with the mistake. I'm normally a very good speller and it drove me SO nuts that it was like that in my sig, I just nuked the tags. I think that p'd her off and I've never gotten another tag since.

Also, I'm pretty sure the TF doesn't like the CF threads or those of us who are regulars on them. Oh well, wouldn't be the first time somebody didn't like me for no good reason.