Why DO you have kids? It's just what you do!

I get asked the following questions on an all-too-frequent basis:

1. Do you have kids? (My answer: No, we don't have any.)
2. Why don't you have kids? (My answer: Neither of us want them.)
3. Well, WHY NOT?!?!??!

This last question may deserve a long discussion (and I'm peppering my blog with the many reasons that I am glad to be childfree). Yet sometimes it's better to answer a question with another question:

WHY DO YOU HAVE/WANT KIDS?

To date, anytime I asked this question, I never understood the responses. I guess they just never made sense to me. Here are some of the responses I've heard (none of which seemed a very good reason to take on a 20+ year commitment which translates into a life sentence in my opinion):

• I didn't want to be lonely. (Well, get some friends.)
• I heard my biological clock ticking. (Really? Is that a real reason? Eventually, if you don't keep winding them, clocks stop ticking.)
• Babies are such a blessing! They are so cute! (Umm....you do know that they don't stay babies, right?)
• I needed to carry on the family name! (Dude, your last name is "Jones." I think your lineage is safe.)
• It's just what you do!

Ah. That last "reason" deserves a little extra attention. It's just what you do! Is it? Who has made this rule? Society? Do you need to do only what is expected by society? Are you a sheeple? This is the "reason" that always gets stuck in my craw. I guess I don't see the necessity of following convention when this form of convention causes a lack of freedom, financial distress, and overall misery.

I can give you some very good reasons why I am childfree. None of which include "It's just what you do!"