In recent news, the term “DINK,” – short for “double income, no kids” – and other similar terms have skyrocketed in popularity on social media. There has been mixed press… some folks have even co-opted the acronyms to create labels for parent lifestyles, which kinda defeats the purpose.
I’m not quite sure why there are so many offended parents attacking childfree influencers, telling them they are selfish. How is it selfish to choose not to add to the world’s population? To decide that we would be too exhausted, financially strained, overstimulated, or just plain unhappy if we had children? How is it selfish to opt out of the default life plan in an effort to try something different, in a way that doesn’t harm others?
Look, I get it… by choosing to not bring life info the world, we’re able/likely to focus more on ourselves. But how is that bad? Maybe we’re sparing a future kid from genetic anomalies, a history of mental illness, worsening climate change, financial instability, etc. Even if those less than ideal circumstances are not in the equation, there are plenty of us that uplift and nurture kids, be it as godparents, aunties, counselors, or teachers.
It feels like we have to defend our right to not have kids, which is ludicrous. The opposite doesn’t seem to be the case for folks that want to have kids. We are constantly asked if/when we are having kids, and when we say we don’t, people look at us like we spoke a different language. I shit you not, a random guy in a bowling alley parking lot asked my husband why we don’t want kids. When hubby mentioned the exorbitant cost as one of the reasons, the guy pulled out a wad of cash. Bizarre.
In any case, I’m happy to see that there has been so much buzz around our lifestyle. It feels like we are finally being seen as an growing cohort of people, instead of an obscure minority. Maybe other people will see that they can do what they want, instead of caving to societal pressures. You know, the way it should be, or whatever.
Millennial Middlings 