Regret not having children? I don't. Oh, I can see advantages, for a start I wouldn't have made some of the mistakes I've made. I would have made others perhaps more wounding mistakes for I would not have been a 'good' mother. Not by a long, long way.
Which is not to say I wouldn't have been a good mum in the accepted sense I would! Definitely and too much! I would have been such a good mother. Absolutely nothing even remotely risky would have been allowed near a child of mine. School would have been thoroughly vetted and closely watched and Gods help the teacher who upset a child of mine, and I mean that I was the sister who took a younger brother to nursery and stayed to make sure nothing happened to upset him, that's the protective tendency and it would have been taken to even greater extremes.
And then I would be too soft. No such thing as too sweet or too fattening and no such thing as 'eat your greens they're good for you', no do your homework or go to bed early you have to go to school tomorrow, my child would not have crossed the road alone. Truth is any poor kid I had would have been ruined before they were ten years old.
At least I recognised my own fallibility. I wouldn't have been a good mum. Not a chance. So, no I don't regret it not a bit. I would hate to look at an adult and know I'm responsible for all his or her faults and I would be I wouldn't have let anyone else get close.
I remember a girl I knew at junior school she was beautiful, blonde with hair her mum put in curls everyday. She was beautifully dressed and cared for. I can't be sure from this distance, we were not close friends but I think I envied her, her lovely hair and her beautiful clothes.
Some years later when presumably we were both working we met again and I was silently shocked. She looked older, hair unkempt, clothes less than clean and tidy. I don't know what if anything had gone wrong all I know is she was a beautiful child whose mum sent her to school looking perfect every day.
Which is not to say I wouldn't have been a good mum in the accepted sense I would! Definitely and too much! I would have been such a good mother. Absolutely nothing even remotely risky would have been allowed near a child of mine. School would have been thoroughly vetted and closely watched and Gods help the teacher who upset a child of mine, and I mean that I was the sister who took a younger brother to nursery and stayed to make sure nothing happened to upset him, that's the protective tendency and it would have been taken to even greater extremes.
And then I would be too soft. No such thing as too sweet or too fattening and no such thing as 'eat your greens they're good for you', no do your homework or go to bed early you have to go to school tomorrow, my child would not have crossed the road alone. Truth is any poor kid I had would have been ruined before they were ten years old.
At least I recognised my own fallibility. I wouldn't have been a good mum. Not a chance. So, no I don't regret it not a bit. I would hate to look at an adult and know I'm responsible for all his or her faults and I would be I wouldn't have let anyone else get close.
I remember a girl I knew at junior school she was beautiful, blonde with hair her mum put in curls everyday. She was beautifully dressed and cared for. I can't be sure from this distance, we were not close friends but I think I envied her, her lovely hair and her beautiful clothes.
Some years later when presumably we were both working we met again and I was silently shocked. She looked older, hair unkempt, clothes less than clean and tidy. I don't know what if anything had gone wrong all I know is she was a beautiful child whose mum sent her to school looking perfect every day.
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