So THAT'S how you know you'll grow up to be childfree by choice...
I'm sensing a pattern that starts in childhood, and I love it!
This is Violet.
She was involved in my very first memory of blinding rage that pulsated through my body with the hot intensity of a thousand suns.
She was my ride-or-die growing up, so when I brought her on a rare trip out-of-town to visit family I never see, I learned at a young that people were meant to be vetted.
The house we stayed at had tall, winding, carpeted stairs with a wide, wooden ledge on top of the second floor where you could see aaaaall the way down to the first floor which felt miles away.
My cousins and I were talking and, for some reason, I told them to watch Violet while I went to grab something.
I don't remember exactly what I said, but I do know I specifically asked the cousin holding Violet to promise to keep her safe...
Because he didn't.
As soon as I stepped away he threw her over the ledge, and down the stairs!
I. was. LIVID.
I saw red for the first time.
Maybe I even blacked out, because I don't remember what happened from that moment on aside from running to go get her and feeling physical pain from the betrayal.
Violet was a part of my close friend circle of stuffed animals I called family and…
*Soprano's Italian mob accent* You do NOT mess with tha family!!
My entire childhood never consisted of playing mommy to babydolls because I never owned any1.
I was VERY much into reading, videogames, and action adventures with Violet and my Vulpix I got from the rare time KFC had kid’s toys. (I added double piercings to her ears, a foreshadowing of my now 9 piercings, and years of studying piercings for fun as a teen).
I also had Hector the husky, but figured men weren't too reliable so he was a tagalong. Definitely not a favorite child, but part of the “pack.”
And 3 pups I got years later that looked like Violet. But I didn't like the idea of associating them as a mother with children.
Instead, they were somehow 3 tiny, secret spy agents.
A mommy with kids? HA! Nah.
I've never been interested in motherhood, and me finding a correlation to that with how I'd play in childhood is quite intersting!
I mean, if you think about how freedom-living entrepenurs advise people to think back to what they enjoyed as a child to understand what their joy-filled direction is supposed to be as an adult… it kinda makes sense, yeah?
The Instagram post below (and its comments) was what inspired this post. SO many people said that they too, played with animals and veternairan Barbie and just… anything that wasn’t a motherhood simulation.
And they too, are happily and proudly childfree by choice, like me.
What about you? If you’re childfree by choice, did you play with more animal-centered toys? How did you entertain yourself?
Am I… on to something?
I’d love to chat more about this in the comments!
And as far as the cover image for that Instgram post… Do you find yourself connecting with animals more than people?
Cause I’ve gotta be honest… I’ve definetly dropped my 5-year old cousin when I lifted him a few inches off the ground so he could see my bird.
Did it cause he tried twice to hit her through the cage bars after I told him not to do that.
Like I said, it was only a couple inches off the ground and he didn’t even cry or anything when I let him go.
I’m gonna protect MY “child”, and I’m not sorry for that.
I lied, I involuntarily owned 2 baby dolls growing up. One from my Godmother who I never really saw. She'd send me babydoll accessories every year for my birthday to go with the initial baby she got me... None of the items were ever opened by me. Babydoll #2 was only asked for because it came with a milk bottle with disappearing milk! You pressed on the nipple and it disappeared into the ether and I NEEDED to find out HOW.
Interesting post. I knew I wasn't going to have kids at an early age. Even still, I've volunteered with kids and was a nanny for my niece and nephew. I'm good with kids, but I am not into actually having my own. Some treat me like a weirdo or feel sorry for me, but they're wasting their time.