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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Mum says she wishes she never had children as 'life was better without them'

656 replies

toothfairy73 · 03/10/2020 17:31

I have just seen this headline in a Newspaper. A anonymous mum has written this letter stating the above.

apple.news/A7zR8oawtR6OFxqP2tijb6g

What are your thoughts? I'm sure we have all had moments where we miss our old lives. It sounds like it is written by someone deeply unhappy and in need of some support. AIBU to think this is someone who is desperate for a bit of time alone and some support?What do you think?

OP posts:
formerbabe · 03/10/2020 22:02

[quote Gobbycop]@formerbabe

It's cool story bro, if you're trying to impress with an edgy insult.[/quote]
I know but I don't say bro...My ds told me not to!

XingMing · 03/10/2020 22:04

Duggeehugs, obviously I can't help you from this keyboard but I can salute your courage and resolve, and I do.

jessstan1 · 03/10/2020 22:05

Well at least she wrote anonymously and there is no need for her children ever to know how she feels; or anyone else for that matter.

I feel sorry for the woman and she is not alone, others feel the same. However that is how she feels right now, in time she may feel quite differently. My hope is that her life, with her children, improves and she finds fulfilment in other ways.

formerbabe · 03/10/2020 22:05

As for the exploring the world bullshit, what a load of priviliged crap. That's fine if you have nt children and plenty of money. I know several women who married rich blokes and boast constantly about the wonderful life enhancing travelling their dc experience..it's nauseating

Idontbelieveit12 · 03/10/2020 22:06

No regrets here at all, but then I had my first at 19 so maybe there’s nothing to miss? It’s all I’ve ever known. I’m now 33 with 3 children.

Emeraldshamrock · 03/10/2020 22:07

I know but I don't say bro...My ds told me not to! 🤣

@Duggeehugs82 I wish I could help too, hopefully some Mnet humor will lift your spirits. ❤

Worldwide2 · 03/10/2020 22:07

I have 2 and they are still young and I don't regret it at all. I'm with other pp, why have multiple children if you regret it so much? Obviously SEN children must be very challenging and if you become a single parent it must be so tough.
Yes parenthood can be tiring and tough but nothing compares with the joy they bring so for me no I don't.

ChelseeDagger · 03/10/2020 22:07

Duggeehugs82

Right now listen to me love. MN is not your friend on this thread..wrong forum..AIBU os notoriously full of people who feel so shit about themselves and their circumstances that they come here to vent their spleen in the hope of making others feel as shitty as they do.
Head over to the parenting boards instead.
Honestly I can only imagine how you must be feeling but you dont need to. Not on account of the lady in the coffee shop or the sanctimonious contingent on here.
You love your child and you dont need to compare her or look any further forward in to the future than tomorrow, truly.
One day at a time.

You are right, I have no idea what your situation is like bit then neither do any of the women on here appatently judging you negatively.

I'm sure you are much more of a lady than I am. So I will be more than happy to tell them to fuck off with their snide comments and judgements on your behalf.

Fannybawz · 03/10/2020 22:09

I think everyone feels like that tbh

I certainly had buyers remorse for the first year or so.....

They’re 10&8 now and I can’t imagine life without them, there’re my little buds

If anybody is reading this: it does get better

(Getting sleep was a game changer for me)

OhTheRoses · 03/10/2020 22:10

My mother constantly told me she never wanted children and regretted it and I had ruined her life.

From a tiny child I knew I only ever wanted to be a mummy. When I told her I was pg the first time (the first time to 12 weeks) her response was "what do you want to do that for"?

When DS was a tiny baby and I held him in my arms and loved him so much from deep within my soul and knew I could never hurt him or be unkind, I wept for all I had not had.

oakleaffy · 03/10/2020 22:12

Anyone who has one child and hates it is forgivable.

Anyone who carries on having them while hating it is bloody unfair on their children.

It's not like it is 1900...Contraception is about now, as is termination.

Why oh why do people have more children than they can cope with?
It just seems insanity.
And very unfair on the resultant children.

Woundedadmiral · 03/10/2020 22:12

I took it's easy to say you wouldn't have them again when you've got them and no one is taking them away. Like saying you wish you'd had the salmon when you're tucking away risotto.

Emeraldshamrock · 03/10/2020 22:14

@Ohalrightthen I've reread your comments on pg 12 wow you're a peach. 🍑

Sometimeswinning · 03/10/2020 22:14

I dont regret it. I think my children have as much right to be here as me. It's not your children stopping you from living life its covid

ChelseeDagger · 03/10/2020 22:14

Woundedadmiral

Bingo!

formerbabe · 03/10/2020 22:15

I'm with other pp, why have multiple children if you regret it so much?

It's interesting isn't it. I have two and am happy with that. I know if I had a third, it would tip me over the edge and I'd regret it.

I know a woman with two dc...she genuinely seems to hate motherhood...her mother looks after her dc every single weekend from Friday night to Monday morning. She's a single mum, council flat, benefits etc...then found out she's pregnant again with her third. I congratulated her and she rolled her eyes like why was I saying that. I have no idea why she got pregnant again or why she's going ahead with it. Seems like madness to me

Tantrumcity · 03/10/2020 22:15

Hmm, it’s a complex one. I don’t regret having my dd and if I had my time again, I’d do it the same..but..it’s bloody hard work and I think I was happier before..albeit in a different way. We had her later (pregnant at 39) due to infertility issues, so we had many many years together. We live abroad and our life was basically just pleasing ourselves, day in, day out. Hours spent lying on beaches and drinking wine, swimming in sunset oceans, lie ins, travelling around the world..I don’t think I realised that would all end..all of it. We don’t have any family here and friends have their own dc, so we haven’t been alone in two years, no break. I so envy friends with parents nearby who sit for them every weekend, some even having the kids stay over..a night alone, a lie in and sometimes up until lunchtime alone..we can only dream. I think it would make a huge difference. I so miss my alone time, reading a book, drinking wine in the sun, listening to music, I honestly never believed that wouldn’t happen again..and I know it will, right? But it could be years. I often feel nothing is about me anymore, I was so in my own head before.
I previously worked all my life 8-7, planning at home after work and some weekends..I thought I was tired, I had no idea what tiredness was!
I’m sad our relationship has changed too, we can barely have a proper conversation these days..then I feel terrible saying all this, thinking all this, because I adore her, it makes me cry when I think of it. I so wish I could stop thinking of my old life, stop wishing for it sometimes..it’s like my private, guilty secret I can’t tell anyone.
Then I’ll have days when I’m so bloody happy, so fulfilled..it’s a rollercoaster for sure and a headfuck.

Downton57 · 03/10/2020 22:16

Only a few generations ago women had virtually no say in whether they had babies or not, and many women had far more children than they could manage. A large percentage of those women must have been trapped in utterly miserable lives of drudgery. Now that we have higher expectations from life and more control over our own bodies, fewer women are making the choice to have babies and talking about the reasons behind this trend is vital. It can't be treated as a taboo subject. Motherhood is hard! As a poster said, the list of cons definitely outweighs the pros, and the intense love mothers have for their children is a double-edged sword, leading them to make constant sacrifices of their time and energy, sacrifices their partners rarely have to make to the same degree. I adore my kids, but even now they've grown up, their happiness or otherwise impacts me massively and I suffer every heartbreak with them. I don't regret having them at all, but I certainly won't be putting any pressure on mine to have kids of their own.

Emeraldshamrock · 03/10/2020 22:17

I agree if you hate your DC you shouldn't bring them up it isn't fair on the DC.
Reminiscing about a time before you had them or fantasizing what island you'd be sunbathing on if no DC is not hating your DC.
I'd kill to save my DC.

ChelseeDagger · 03/10/2020 22:21

know a woman with two dc...she genuinely seems to hate motherhood...her mother looks after her dc every single weekend from Friday night to Monday morning. She's a single mum, council flat, benefits etc...then found out she's pregnant again with her third. I congratulated her and she rolled her eyes like why was I saying that. I have no idea why she got pregnant again or why she's going ahead with it. Seems like madness to me

Poor thing pronably thinks she has nothing better to do.

And more to the point, does she?

Its not so hard to understand really, if you appreciate the circumstances.

I'm guessing most of this person's peer group live a similar lifestyle?

Are you not being even the slightest bit disingenuous to assert that you don't understand?

Socioeconomics innit?

lostintranslation78 · 03/10/2020 22:25

I regret having children. I regret choosing someone so awful to have children with. I regret bringing children into this world that we are failing to take care of. I regret bringing them into a world so full of abuse and sexual violation. I regret not becoming me and making choices based on providing the best for my children. However, they are wonderful people. I am proud of how I have raised them. We laugh. We love each other. They inspire me. It is possible to mourn a life not lived while still making the most of the life you have.
These threads are important. If I had known more about narcissists and avoided their dad I would never have known how resilient, awesome I could become fighting for these children of mine. I have been through hell. I am at peace with my regrets but those of us who feel this way (esp those whose children require additional support) certainly don’t need to be made to feel worse. Some of us are just doing our best. One day at a time.

SilverOtter · 03/10/2020 22:25

I don't regret having mine, but I think it's because I went into it with such low expectations.

I'd had it drummed into me as a child how awful children were, and how my mum would (if she could go back in time) choose not to have had usSad. That absolutely fucked up my self-esteem. It was only when I had my own children that I realised how awful most of what she said to me really wasSad.

oakleaffy · 03/10/2020 22:25

@formerbabe

I'm with other pp, why have multiple children if you regret it so much?

It's interesting isn't it. I have two and am happy with that. I know if I had a third, it would tip me over the edge and I'd regret it.

I know a woman with two dc...she genuinely seems to hate motherhood...her mother looks after her dc every single weekend from Friday night to Monday morning. She's a single mum, council flat, benefits etc...then found out she's pregnant again with her third. I congratulated her and she rolled her eyes like why was I saying that. I have no idea why she got pregnant again or why she's going ahead with it. Seems like madness to me

It is bloody depressing.

I only ever wanted one...Two or more would have driven me dotty.

Three is really too much if she cannot look after the two she has already.

Ohalrightthen · 03/10/2020 22:26

@ChelseeDagger

Ohalrightthen

Same as commuting every day though.
Most people don't die in RTAs. Normalcy bias at work.
So you get life insurance in case the worst happens.
So you make contingency plans in case your child isnt NT.

Nobody needs to drive.

Nobody needs to be a parent.

But shit still happens. C'est la vie.

This is exactly what I'm saying though, SO many people don't even consider what woud happen if their child had a disability. The first thing we did when we decided to have a kid, before even TTC, was take out a fantastic life insurance policy, one that covered any future illness of any future children, to the tune of our entire mortgage and a significant lump sum. We haven't had to use it yet, but i wouldnt have tried to have a baby without it. I mentioned this to a mum friend and she looked at me like i was a lunatic. I don't get how people can be so blase, especially older parents.
Justaboy · 03/10/2020 22:27

Clementine

Wut now?
Did your mother consult with you before you were born to find out your opinion?

Oddely enough i don't belive she consulted her astrologer!
Mind you i had a great mum and dad wasnt that bad either!

Sorry that my orignal coment was harsh and it seems that this thread has moved on and its awfull reading of those who are children of mothers who never wanted them and told them so during their upbringing.

I had a girlfrend some years ago would mutter sometimes;

"After all i was just the result of a Saturday night piss-up down a dark alleyway"

Thats what her mother drummed into her all her childhood years so the child took the blame for her mothers actions:(

Totally wrong totally:(

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