Standard Living

As humans we are expected to settle down and procreate. After all, that's why we're here. The older I get, the more likely I am to wish to buck this trend. I am no nearer getting a biological clock or maternal streak than I was when I was 17.

Weddings are stressful! I have several friends who were previously laid back and fun to be around. Since announcing their engagement these people have become possessed. Everything becomes urgent, all other topics of conversation are now irrelevant, catering has replaced Big Brother and don't even get me started on the guestlist!! Why do people do this to themselves? Do we, as a society, genuinely still need to feel we are part of an accepted tradition? Is it to keep the parents happy? Surely, it can't be for the sake of the kids, as most children are born out of wedlock these days.

The only thing more likely to give me an anxiety attack than weddings, is children. I love kids, I get on brilliantly with them, they respond well to me (I have a theory that it's because I look and act like a 7 year old Moomin, so am non-threatening to your average child!) but I don't feel mature enough to have my own. Maybe I never will. I would want to be equipped with a user manual and have passed several exams before I am let loose as a mother. Perhaps I would be more inclined if there was a handy 0845 number you could call: Press 1 if your child has eaten Lego; Press 2 if he/she is having a tantrum in Tesco...you get the idea!

I am starting to accept that I am the exception rather than the rule in the majority of things and I have yet to decide if my friends who have kids and/or are married are insane or living the dream....