what is the point of a life without children?

[Mud]

having a morbid moement and wondere how i would feel if I didn't have my 3 for some reason as am too old to have any more

from this perspective fo having kids i really dont see what point there would be in going on if i no longer had them and had no chance of having others

which makes me wonder what is the point of life withoug kids?

trhat psychologist quote doesn't mean anything thoguh - such is often the way with psychoanalysis

many if not the vast majority of hcildless people do not 'contrubute to society' in the way that makes them worthy and with point - they live and they work and they socialise

Don't you understand it, Mud?

many people with children do the same to be fair

i like what piffle said below.

i look forward to a not too distant future ( ihope) of having no children at home.

well i think i do understnad it - i think it says not to try to imagine the future and how you will feel -- and just to live more fully aong the way to the future

but thanks for the patronisation anyway

I've rolled this one out before but here it goes again (meant to be lighthearted)

They fuck you up your mum and dad
They may not mean to but they do
They fill you with the faults they had
Then add some extra just for you

But they were fucked up in their turn by fools in old style hats and coats
Who half the time were sopy stern
Or half at one another's throats

Man passes misery to man
It deepens like a coastal shelf
So get out as early as you can
And don't have any kids yourself

we have lots of childless friends (some through choice, others not) who seem to live happy and fulfilling lives

I'm not sure I understand your post actually.
Is it that you can't see a point to other people's lives when they don't have kids?

What about people who have children who grow up to be murderers, rapists, etc - do their lives have an "anti-point"?

actually that was me that saw patronisation infered

Have you considered that perhaps 'work' contributes to society?

My contribution via that route would certainly have been greater if I had not had children.

I agree with Sophable

It pisses me off when people say that having children has "taught them so much about the meaning of life".

Having children teaches you a lot about .... having children. That's all. It doesn't teach you much else.

I have lots of friends who don't have children and have acheived amazing things which have changed people's lives and really contributed something to making society a better place to live. People who have made policy and saved lives.

From their point of view, looking at my life of laundry and chaos, they consider themselves to have made the wise and important choice.

Both are different choices - but neither is morally or philosophically superior.

much work is busy busy work with no greater good - much work isn't - depends what you do really

Eh mud I hate to be a nit picker but psychanalysis is but one of many disciplines of psychology and has no relevance whatsoever to those quotes.

One of the most bizarre things I heard was a decision by a family member not to have children described as 'selfish'. How does that work then?

Unless we're talking about a future pensions crisis...

mhamai- as a teenager i had that pinned to the back of my door. my step mother gave me a copy of it.

Have only read OP and I believe it's only having had them that makes life without them seem unimaginable - lots of people have perfectly worthwhile and purposeful lives without children.

Agree that the idea of losing them is intolerable though.

so what are valid work choices then

if i have no children and am a research scientist am i more vlid then if i was a pa in a bank .. if my job just makes sure there's enough paper and supplies in a company am i invalid?

so what does quote mean to you then? nitpick awya

Mud, why is it so worthy to have children though?

You were the one talking about some jobs being more valuable than others surely?

it helps me to read it Dizzybint when I feel like the crap mother of the year!

if you work for a bank then you are helping them become more profitable, thereby increasing their share price, thereby boosting the value of people's pensions....so extremely worthwhile i'd say.

i dont agree - i think children can for some people teach them alot of different emotions.

of course we generalise we have to don't we.

i know childless person who is the most kind person ever

i have a boss much understnding of my chilcare issues who has no children,

equally i had a collegue who was childless in a job where as a housing officer she would feel little compasion towards customers with children in debt or in need.

her position has much changed since having twins.

i think having children can teach some people the true meaning of patience, of tiredness of exhaustion of responsibility of happiness.

i find it hard to believe that some people who have not got children truly know the meaning of happiness.