Quote Originally Posted by indysteel View Post
I don't want to make it seem like I have anything against children or my friends with children, but there definitely came a point in my early to mid-30s where a divide developed and meeting people who did not have young children and/or who weren't married was really significant to me. I stopped feeling like this sad spinster, and I started to see a world of possibility. When I'd go out with my married with kids friends, I always ended up feeling like an alien. I'd get these uninvited "pep talks" that I'd meet someone someday. When I tried to tell them that I wasn't in some indefinite holding pattern, it was clear that they just didn't get it or didn't believe me. Now, as "luck" would have it, I ended up meeting DH through cycling and we got married after dating for about a year and a half, but I still feel rather liberated at this point that I don't view my childless life as lacking in some crucial way. I think kids are wonderful--for those who truly want to parent, but it wasn't for me.
I agree 100%. My reference to not having children was more about not having constantly changing reminders about time passing (since kids grow so fast!), and less about what having children means for one's lifestyle. Though I experienced the same divide in my early 30's prior to having met my husband as well. And even after we did marry, the constant questions in the early years about 'when are you two going to start trying' really annoyed the *$)&(%) out of me. (There is one advantage to wearing grey hair...people stop asking when you are going to have kids!). I really feel for those who want children and for whatever reason can't have them...but for us, it was a simple choice and neither of us regret it at all. Though again, it's liberating to be in an area where we aren't considered freaks for making that choice.

I've had a real peek into what my world could have been like had we not been active people (first with months on crutches and now in PT where most of the other people there are not much older than me but clearly have chronic mobility problems to deal with...). Staying healthy and active has always kind of been a 'given' for both my husband and I, but I'm learning to appreciate it more and more as time progresses.