Monday, June 8, 2009

Childfree Day


In the mid 1990s Leslie Lafeyette, the founder of the Childfree Network, put forward the idea of having a day to celebrate the childfree choice. Her idea is that the holiday would fall on the first Sunday of June, the mid point between Mother's Day and Father's Day. Although the Childfree Network itself is no longer around, the idea of a holiday has stayed. Well yesterday was World Childfree Day. It is another one of those odd little holidays that Jeff and I celebrate that most of the world doesn't.

And although I love the idea of a day to celebrate childfree people I do see one problem with the holiday, at least for Jeff and I. We celebrated the day the same way we do pretty much every day. Jeff stayed up way too late playing World of Warcraft the night before. I spent the morning hanging out in my local coffeehouse writing and drawing. We went out to lunch and then spent the afternoon reading or sitting outside enjoying the nice day. In the evening we scavenged together some dinner (each cooking our own meals) and then raided with the guild until very late. So in all honesty it was a pretty typical Sunday for us.

Jeff and I are blessed in that we have a lot of time to do whatever we want to do. I'm planning to start fencing lessons again soon. I have my writing which lately has been a priority. I'm also suddenly interested in baking and particularly cake decorating. And I have the time to try it. Jeff has the chance to quit work and go back to school because of our childfree status. He also gets plenty of play time in the process. It's a quiet life but one that I love. So while I can see the desire for a childfree holiday, I'm not necessarily sure I see the need. Everyday gets to be a holiday.

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