In my previous relationships, I could easily dodge the topic of ‘children’, but after my conversation with my mother-in-law *, I have to face it head-on. While my beloved and I chat about everything and nothing a few evenings later, I blurt it out. “We need to talk about my desire to have children…”
* “No children? End your relationship!”
Children? Already?
My beloved looks at me somewhat startled. I can see him thinking: children already? He doesn’t get the chance to say those words. I keep rambling, repeating phrases like ‘I don’t want to break up’, ‘I really don’t know yet’, and ‘what do we do now’ several times. Well, when I’m nervous, there’s no stopping me.
Just calm down
“Just calm down,” my beloved says when I stop talking for a moment. Afraid of what’s to come, I look at him silently. “I do want children, indeed, but it’s not like I want to be a father within two years. You really don’t have to worry about that. I understand your doubts about wanting children. It’s a big deal if you’ve never thought about it before. Let’s first see how things go between us. A vacation together seems like a good test. Then we can discuss our future plans further.”
Goodbye worries…
Relieved, I snuggle up to him. I enjoy this moment. I’m not worrying about the future right now. Maybe my ovaries will start spontaneously rattling in a while?
- NEXT: “Children? I wouldn’t start with them!”
- Overview of all the Maybe Mum columns by Patricia de Ryck
My English is not very good, so I’m translating this with the help of Google Translate and ChatGPT.