JockinTas

I went back to work when our youngest started school. I was not one of those women who was bored being a stay at home Mum :wink: Not having any family here, and the cost of child care made the decision to be at home a lot easier. When I went back into the workforce, I always used up an annual leave day to make sure I went to swimming carnivals etc etc. We were never materialistic (still aren't) so forget about wanting a boat, McMansion and all that kinda thing. We bought a house in North Ryde close to good schools and just lived within our means.

My sister never wanted children and has never regretted not having any. She freely admits she was far too selfish to have them and was very career oriented for years. She has a busy social life now that she's retired and a very comfortable lifestyle.

As I said in my earlier post, I was never that keen on children and put off having them until I'd been married for 8 years. Only then, did I feel I really wanted to have them. I was terribly sick throughout each pregnancy - only stopped throwing up after they were born but once I held them there was such a great surge of love I knew I could cope no matter what. I know of two women who didn't want children but the husband did so went ahead and had the babies. When they were past the baby stage they walked out on the husband and kids, more or less stating "You're the one who wanted them. You can look after them" :embarrassed:

I was married at 25 and didn't have my first until I was 33. I didn't really like children very much way back then. They seemed noisy, selfish demanding little so and so's. We also wanted to do a lot of travelling without children in tow. After settling in Australia we decided to start a family. There's no doubt about it though, the joy they bring outweighs everything else.