I Dream Of Having A Business With My Future Husband, Not A Baby

When I get married, I don’t want to start a family right away. Instead, my future husband and I will be putting our time, money, and effort into starting a business that will support us for the rest of our married life.

  1. Businesses make you money, babies drain it. Did you know that on average, an American parent will spend $12,000 on a baby in its first year? That’s nuts! I barely make that much in a year! Babies are a huge expense and at this stage in my life, I’d rather do something that will build up my savings rather than drain it.
  2. There are already too many people on this planet. A lot of my friends who don’t want kids will use this as an excuse and I think it’s totally fair. Apparently, the population is growing by 1.09% per year, which is insane considering that the world population is nearly eight billion already. I’ll gladly use this as an excuse to not have a baby. I feel like it would be a better move to build a business that helps to support and provide resources for our growing population, not make it worse.
  3. I don’t even think my body could handle being pregnant. I’m only 28 and already feel like I’m 60. A lot of people my age have either mental health problems or physical health problems and I’m one of them. As someone who suffers from chronic fatigue as well as a host of other mental health issues, I don’t want the extra stress pregnancy would put on my body. It’s just not worth it to me to potentially pass something on to my baby or make my existing illness worst.
  4. I have entrepreneurial instincts but no maternal instincts. I honestly have no idea what to do around kids. I don’t know how to talk to them without feeling like I’m offending or upsetting them. There are some people who know exactly what kids want and can meet them on their level, but not me. I don’t have that innate maternal instinct. I do, however, have the razor-sharp instinct of a business entrepreneur. Might as well put that to good use!
  5. There’s no point in having a baby unless you have a ton of money anyway. I refuse to have a baby unless I’m crazy rich. I just know that if I don’t have all the money I need, I’ll resent having kids. Plus, I would hate to think that I gave up on my dreams of becoming an entrepreneur just because I had to support a child.
  6. We’d be putting our money into something that can help the world. Of course, having a baby is an amazing thing to do—I mean, you’re creating life, for God’s sake! Nothing’s more magical than that. However, I’d rather put my time and energy into making a huge impact on the world and changing lives. There’s no better feeling to me than knowing I’m making a difference to someone’s life other than my own.
  7. A business doesn’t turn on you once it becomes a teenager. You knew this was coming. Babies don’t stay cute and cuddly forever. They eventually turn into teenagers with bad attitudes and plenty of sass. A business doesn’t randomly turn on you; it just keeps serving you as long as you dedicate yourself to it.
  8. If I’m making money, I want to be able to enjoy it. I don’t want to invest my hard-earned cash in a kid, sorry. If I’m making money, I want to be able to enjoy it and reap the rewards. What’s the point of having a lucrative career and working hard every day just to support a kid who’s gonna eventually move out and forget all about you?
  9. Running a business is totally under my control. I can’t control what my kid’s personality is or how they behave, but I can control a business. Either we pour all of our money into starting a family or pour it into a business that actually has potential to reimburse me and then some. The choices is a pretty easy one for me.
  10. I wouldn’t be a fully present parent. One big reason I’d rather start a business with my future partner rather than a family is that I’m honestly afraid that I won’t be a present parent. I’d have really high standards for myself as a mom, and as a person who was raised by parents who weren’t always there and weren’t a very good support system, it would kill me if I knew I wasn’t totally there for my kid. I want to be completely ready, present, and calm before having a baby. I don’t know when that will happen, so for now, business comes first.
Jennifer is a playwright, dancer, and theatre nerd living in the big city of Toronto, Canada. She studied Creative Writing at Concordia University and works as a lifestyle writer who focuses on Health, B2B, Tech, Psychology, Science, Food Trends and Millennial Life. She's also a coreographer, playwright, and lyricist, with choreography credits for McMaster University’s “Spring Awakening,” “Roxanne” for the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, and “The Beaver Den” for The LOT, among others.

You can see more of her work on her Contently page and follow her on Instagram @jenniferenchin.
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