Member-only story
Silly Shit Parents Say: “It’s Different When It’s Your Own”
I don’t know what kind of emotional manipulation this sentence is trying to weave, but it does not tug at my heartstrings or my “wasted” womb one bit.
In today’s episode of Shit Parents Say, I want to analyze the silliness of the popular comeback moms and dads make whenever someone states they don’t want to have kids:
“Trust me, it’s different when it’s your own.”
I don’t know who first came up with this ridiculous remark, but they have paved the way for so many parents, from well-meaning to ill-intentioned, to utter absolutely nonsense without thinking about it first. Even I have been on the receiving end of this ludicrous sentence a few times over the course of my childfree existence, and the only thing I could think of while my ears are too busy bleeding from the stupidity of this disclaimer is this:
Um, how?!
Seriously, what exactly is the difference between anyone raising a person and me following suit? Please outline the differences, because what about, “I don’t want to spend any smidgen of my adult years raising a person” do you not understand? Raising a person is exactly what having my own entails, correct?
So no, it’s not different at all!
