D.I.N.Ks Unite!

In an attempt to write more, I am using a set of cards with conversation starters on them to write about new topics.  The first post like this was well received, so this feels like something I will be using for the foreseeable future.  Plus, this gets me to write about things I might otherwise think about writing about.  So, onto the next topic.  Shall we?

Is there a reason to get married if you don't intend to have children?

For the most part, I think that when people get married, one thing that is discussed is children.  How many to have, when to have them, what to name them.  I am sure that the list goes on and on.  If the couple is super crazy, they start discussing school districts before even conceiving.  That's just part of being married isn't it?  Procreating.  You grow up, go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, retire, die.  And pay taxes the entire way.

But what if you don't want to have kids?  My wife and I have been married for just under seven years.  All the while, we have talked about not wanting kids.  It's not that we hate kids, it's just that right now we aren't in a place to have them.  Who wants to have a newborn baby in a one bedroom apartment?  I mean, the closet is big enough for a crib, but where would we put our clothes?  I kid, I kid.  Don't yell at me.  Right now, we are enjoying being D.I.N.Ks (double income, no kids).  Who knows, maybe after we get into a house our tune might change, but for now it stays as it always has been:  no kids.  But we knew, going into our marriage, that we didn't want to have kids.  That didn't stop us from getting married, and I don't know if that should stop anyone from doing so.  

Is there a reason to get married if you don't plan on having kids?  I first saw this question and thought it was absolute bullshit.  I didn't marry my wife because we did or didn't want kids.  I married her because we love each other and committed ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives.  Not because our focus was to start procreating.  Besides, you don't have to be married to have kids.  Just throwing it out there.  Kids tend to be a byproduct of marriage.  You get married because you want to spend the rest of your life with someone.  You get married to enjoy life with someone else.  Kids are secondary.  I'm sure that there are people out there that want noting more than to settle down and have kids.  Others, like us, want to focus on ourselves first.  It's good to get a few years under your belt as a married couple.  Get into the habit of being an actual adult.  In the real world.  With a married partner and a job.  You don't need to have kids when you are married. 

Just like with everything we do in life, you have to do what makes you and your partner happy.  If having a bunch of kids makes you happy, then don't let anything stop you from doing so.  If you want to spend the rest of your life traveling around the country and don't have to worry about the kids burning the house to the ground, don't have any kids.  You can still get married even if you don't want to have kids.  I don't understand where this notion comes from?  Is it because this is what we grew up seeing?  Our parents and extended family having kids?  So that must be the norm, right?  It might be a generational situation as well.  I suppose you could look at censuses from the past sixty years to check the trend of married couples having children and if there is a pattern.  

21/120