BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids Newbie - may I introduce myself?

fatina what part of germany are you from?as i've stated before on this board my hubby is from germany. he's from a a small town called Hosbach which is about 45 minutes outside of frankfurt.

it's so great that so many new people are joining. my hubby has told me before that at least in germany it's not as kid centered as here.i told know how true that is though.

indigo

Hi Inidigo, I grew up in Mannheim myself. Now I live in Italy. Germans are also getting away from having many children. In fact, Germany and Italy have one of the lowest percentages of children per woman.

Angela, you asked about hobbies. Well, first of all, I have a very busy job which I really like, it takes up quite a bit of my energy. There is also regular travel involved. So I have to say that when I come home, I really see my home as my "refuge" from the world, I just enjoy being in a peaceful, calm environment, where I can do (or not do) what I like. I also have a furbaby cat, Macek, whom I look forward to seeing in the evenings and on the weekend. I really enjoy having him around, he gives me fun times and love. I have a boyfriend (we have been together for 8 yrs now) who has his own place the next town over, so to say. We don't live together for work related reasons, so when he does come to see me, we always enjoy our time together, whether it's cooking a dinner, watching a movie or just spending time. Sometimes we read (a big hobby for both of us - we are true bookworms) and it's just so nice to know that he is in the same room or maybe in another room, but just knowing he's there. We also do a lot of sports, hiking, mountain-biking in the summer, throughout the year I go to the gym regularly to keep up my endurance and fitness level, and I have been doing belly-dance for about 8 years now. I can't imagine how I would do all these things with children, it just would not be possible. I love my life the way it is - I think it's "quality" living and that's what counts for me!

OH, I almost forgot about travelling! We try to take at least one trip locally (in our own country) and one trip out-of-country each year to broaden our horizons and learn something new!

In the time that I have been here, I have not seen such an influx of new faces and participants that we've seen in the past month or so. And from the comments that are being posted, some of these new people have been just reading for months at a time before deciding to participate.

I don't believe that the MNK forum has banner ads all over the Internet, so I would like to think that the influx of traffic and participation here is a reflection of the word getting out (by whatever means) that not having a child is a choice, not a requirement. I don't know how that could be shown, but we do seem to be seeing the results here, and in a good way, too!

Hi Duane, I don't really consider myself "new", as I have been following your disucssions for some time now. Of course I'm "new" to you all! I have been following some cf info on the web for some time now, but have never participated in any forums. The reason why I decided to step in here is not because I need support (I feel just fine!), but because I find that you are all - each and every one - interesting people with good common sense, and generate some great discussions and exchange of ideas. A refreshing bunch! Thanks for the warm welcome!

Right, well, not "new" as in being around for reading purposes, but new as in participation by posting. We don't know who you are unless you pop in and say "Hello!"

There are other forums for the childfree that are by no means as civil as this place is. That is why I hang out here -- the people are nice and the environment is open. We even have some parents who chime in here who are supportive as well, so it is a good mix.

Enjoy your stay, and feel free to contribute...

Fatina,

Your free time sounds very similar to mine. I too, have a boyfriend of nearly a year, and we live separately also. I have a cat named Jackie, and my job has started to require regular travel, too, so I enjoy the peace and calmness my apartment provides.

My new "hobby" will be preparing to buy a condo in the next few months, and I've resolved that I'll be giving much away to the Goodwill and/or trashing krap I've held onto for years but haven't touched in the last two years (I've heard that's a good rule of thumb). So I have a lot of cleaning out and organizing to do.

It feels so good to let stuff go! My rule of thumb (especially with clothes): at the beginning of the season, I look at what's inside my closet and if I haven't worn it at least once during last season, out it goes! We have so much, and there are many people out there who have little, it feels good to me to let it go and know that it will be useful to someone else.

DH and I try to go through our stuff every year and get rid of what we're not using. Of course, this year we have to figure out where to put all of our transformers! We brough home boxes and boxes or vintage toys from my DH parent's house. We got Star Wars, Transformers, Voltron, Matchbox Cars, and He-man.

OOHHH.... I'm drooling.

You can tell I grew up in the 70s and 80s.