BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids Do pals only contact you to brag about their kids?

Oh well, you tried - she's just rude!

It really is awful to have a conversation hijacked and turned into a discussion about having children and raising children. And the fact is, even when you try to turn the conversation back to the original conversation, it will always return to children if mothers are present. It's so awkward to go to dinner parties and have all the women talk about their children incessantly....

Hi all, I have to join into this one...I'm 26 so luckily still have a bunch of CF friends (group is getting smaller by the day, it seems). However, the last guy I dated was a very long term relationship and his family, younger and older, all insisted on having children (in and out of wedlock, regardless of income or some of them still living at home with Mom and Pop) so needless the say, the conversation CONSTANTLY revolved around their kids. If we were camping, I'd find a reason to scoot out to the store, go for a rollerblade or bike ride, etc. If my boyfriend insisted on hanging out with the kids, I'd try to find one of his siblings to go shopping, etc. Unfortunately, I did my share of listening intently to fascinating stories of poo and puke and "she's so smart! she said mommy AND dada today!" If you want to remain friends with people with kids, it's a necessary evil. Sometimes changing the subject is like trying to stop a tornado with a fly swatter.

All the parent poo talk makes me think - what would people think if everyone shared poo stories about themselves, their spouses, friends, pets, etc.? Maybe when someone starts talking about their kid's poo we should bombard them w/adult poo stories! It would be funny but I don't think I could bring myself to do it.

nosy, that would be funny! but I couldn't do it. I don't like to talk about bodily functions in general.

However, I have to confess -- my rabbit friends spend a lot of time talking about rabbit poop. Only because rabbits have such sensitive systems and health problems are often first evident in the litterbox. And these conversations are usually confined to other like-minded rabbit folk and center around general health, not the "yuck" factor.

Yeah, my husband & I talk about our dog's poo regularly (we can tell when she gobbles up the bird seed!), but I don't make it a topic of discussion at work on a regular basis.

Come on parents - we don't want to know!

I've just received an e-mail from a friend attaching an update photo of her niece (whose mother I also know). What took me aback slightly was the fact that the e-mail was addressed only to her female friends - it seems that women are expected to find this sort of thing interesting while men aren't. This is a good friend, so I don't mind, but I did find it a bit odd!

What a great observation! In reality, I don't have any more interest than most men I know.

I just found your website, and I probably won't stay CF, but it has been very enlightening for me to realize I could actually assert that I'm not going to jump on the baby bandwagon right away like all of my friends and my sister. So, her kids and my kids won't be the same age. Tough cookies. I'm not ready yet. I want to be regular, plain, old married for a little longer before all the baby chaos starts.

But anyway.... I think it's really important for people to have variety in their lives. It's good for the kids too- to have female role models other than stay at home moms. If all of the women that a child ever knows are either school teachers or moms, then that's not helping your daugther be all she can be.

Welcome pinkbows, you & your family will be better off doing what's right for yourselves rather than blindly yeilding to societal pressures.