Stop telling me to have a baby.

I don’t want a baby right now. Yes, I can change my mind in the future. Or maybe I won’t. There’s always the option to adopt anyway.

My family, friends and even select (cough, older) colleagues at work who have had babies are constantly telling me to have a baby. I am married. In a long term, loving relationship. We’re pretty easygoing. And we also love our free time. Especially our ability to both be out of the flat at the same time without having to worry about a pet, let alone a child. I think the garden is what my husband worries about the most. He’s really grown to love the process of growing from seed for the first time (do you see what I did there?). He is obsessed with why the leaves fall off, change colour and what happens after flowers have come and gone. It’s been both adorable and, admittedly, brood-inducing.

You see, he is a teacher and has, what he describes as, enough contact time with children. That’s students from 11 to 20 years old mainly. Thanks to the pandemic, I was able to immerse myself in his lifestyle when the school offered me a temporary job. We were in a bit of a pinch and between countries. I let go of my time in the pharmacy and embraced having to be a substitute teacher 25 hours per week. This gig lasted 8 months.

My stress levels were through the roof. I couldn’t help thinking about each child. Agonising over whether I was doing a good job. I didn’t really have any training. I was so out of my comfort bubble I almost got into a panic.