Not going to church
Spending time playing video games. I enjoyed every minute and I didn’t miss out on much.
My mom didn’t think I should buy a house. In 2009.
I would have been absolutely screwed by now if I’d listened to her advice.
I had the opposite. In 2007 my mom convinced me it’s conventional wisdom to buy as much house as you can afford, because historically it is one of the best investments you can make.
Thankfully all I could afford at that time was a pretty cheap house…
Getting heavily tattooed, not having kids, not getting married/“settling down”. I grew up in an extremely conservative Christian home that pushed the standard “American Dream” plan but never embraced it. I’m aware there’s experiences that I’ll never have that are a source of joy and life defining for others, but I knew very early on those things weren’t calling me. Decades later I have zero regrets about what I didn’t do and what I did do.
Not having kids, every time I have any remorse I spend some time around kids and their parents, in about 5 minutes I’m good
Same here, having watched how the lives of my friends who had kids changed reaffirmed the decision of not having any for me. You basically have to be prepared to dedicate next couple of decades of our life to raising kids and not doing much of anything else. And you end up giving up the freedom to do things like move to a different town or try a new career. Your primary goal in life becomes having stable income to raise your kids.
I love kids, but I have never felt a want for them.
This is an interesting nuance. I find most children annoying, and I don’t want any of my own, but the love I have for my niece and nephew is bigger than I ever could have imagined.
I guess there’s always room for exceptions.
I hadn’t planned on kids or marriage. I’m so thankful to have both.
Transitioning.
Tattoos.
Joining the Fediverse
What kind of tattoos?
What molecule is the flower one? That looks sick
Estrogen!
Unfortunately, it will be my only colour tattoo, because I had a hell of time healing that one. My body has rejected all of my piercings over the years, and clearly didn’t like the colours either. It seems to handle blacks just fine though
That sucks, but if you can only have one color tattoo that seems like the perfect choice even if you didn’t know that going in lol
I’m not normally a fan of tattoos (pretty ambivalent overall) but I really like that one and the added meaning for anyone more up to date on their ochem than I am is even cooler 😂
Not wanting kids.
Cons: you don’t know what you’re missing
Pros: you don’t know what you’re not missing
I don’t begrudge anyone not wanting kids. It’s not for everyone.
That said, my first thought when I saw the post title was “I don’t regret having kids”.
I suppose the caveat is that my twins are only 2 and a half, I may well regret having kids when they start getting pregnant, selling drugs, marrying chat bots, that sort of thing.
Edit: I just scrolled through some of the other comments and noticed that the majority of them say that they don’t regret not having kids. The fediverse is pretty homogenous I guess.
Were you told you would regret having your kids? That’s wild.
It’s a lot more common for people to be told that they will regret not having kids, than being told they’ll regret having them… so I think the similarities in the responses is quite natural, dont you? Not a lot of parents can answer this post with their kids in mind, but pretty much every voluntarily childless person can.
It’s a lot more common for people to be told that they will regret not having kids, than being told they’ll regret having them
That’s not my experience, at all.
When I was in my 20s plenty of older guys would tell me not to have kids. Admittedly, these were the older weirdos hanging out at bars, but the source of the advice isn’t really in question right now.
Every single voluntarily childless person I’ve spoken to have had the experience of being told they’ll regret it.
I can only recall two people being told they’d regret their decision to have kids… and they were both teenagers, so even though I don’t agree with saying something like that, I can understand the sentiment of wanting them to wait a few years.
Seems we life in very different worlds.
I’ve certainly heard the sentiment from childfree people before. My late BIL used to call kids “demon spawn” and “crotch fruit” and loudly proclaim he would never have children because they’re such a drain physically and financially.
There’s assholes everywhere unfortunately. I know childfree people frequently get pushed to have kids as well.
It’s just so rude to say someone will regret their choice regarding kids… BIL is free to make that choice for himself, and more than welcome to keep his mouth shut on your choice.
Yeah any commentary around pregnancy or children should just be positive for what that person has chosen for their life. Having or not having children is so subjective and can be a painful subject for some. Better to be kind and not pushy imo
Mine is older now and some parts of parenting are harder, but I still don’t regret having a kid.
Having a kid actually reinforced my belief that only people who really want kids should have kids.
In my own case, it’s certainly been one of my life’s great adventures. The most meaningful thing I’ve ever done.
Not having kids. I have hobbies, and money/time for them.
One of the previous popes called childless couples selfish. I say a never-married 70-year old operating the world’s largest paedophile welfare programme has nothing to say to me about child-rearing.
Being content with “good enough”
This is the mantra of the family I married to. Sometimes a little too much.
Still love them though:)
This. 100 times this.
That’s a damn good answer.
Not making sport. My mum told me im gonna get fat like my dad but im still thin
Getting tattoos. Parents, grandparents etc all said by the time you’re 30 you’ll hate them. Well I’m in my mid 30’s now and I still get new ones.
Not going to prom. Really don’t know on what basis people would say that.
Cracking my knuckles.
Still waiting on that arthritis I was promised.
Here’s a guy who Cracks His Knuckles in Only One Hand for Over 60 Years. What you need to worry about is when they stop cracking, symptom of systemic inflammation.
Hey if you don’t mind, roughly how old are you?
Getting divorced and married. (The second time)
I was told I would regret not enjoying and living up high school. To this day, still do not regret doing more with my shitty life in high school. College? Yeah, probably. High school? Nah
