13 Things People Without Kids Should Never Say To Their Friends With Kids
byM. Esther Sherman
Every once in a while when the moon is sliced perfectly in
half and the sitter shows up on time, I find myself attending an event with
childless people. I stand in the sea of them and realize (for the millionth time) that being a parent is hard. The childless are fascinating creatures, but are largely best observed from
afar. It’s not that they’re so different than those of us with kids — it’s
that most of them don’t realize the ways in which we are different and the ways in
which we are not. We need go remember to order shirts that say "Parents Are People Too" but we
really have quite a lot on our plates already.
The truth is, if you don't have kids yourself, are things you should never say to a parent. Just as we parents look on the kid-free with curious wonder
and occasional disdain, they often look upon us with confusion and unrestrained
pity. Neither of these viewpoints are necessarily fair to the other category, as both are predicated by
stereotypes and nonsense, but since I am Team Parenthood, I’m picking a side
and feel completely justified in tearing down the childless for my
own amusement... OK, for the record, I don’t actually feel justified in that and feel
super guilty for typing it out. I love my kid-free friends But, sorry, there are some things that the
childless people of the world need to know that they apparently don’t. For starters, those who haven’t
done the whole procreation or adoption or acquiring dependents thing, really
need to stop saying these things to parents: