i know a lot of us are Going Through it, but it definitely gets my goat when my choice not to have children is interpreted as 'having it easier' and not 'i made a choice about what set of difficulties i would face in life'.

it's all hard. IT'S ALL FUCKING HARD.

i dunno man if you can't find it within yourself to express empathy for folks without children dunk that in the group chat or something. i'm struggling to even bring myself to eat every day, i assure you i'm also feeling less than charitable about your opinions.

i didn't want children bc i knew i'd struggle w/depression for a lifetime. i knew i was happy already and i knew my resources were not enough. it didn't mean i looked ahead and went 'haha i won't have to homeschool in a pandemic, sweet.'

being a parent is TOUGH. it's tough. but it doesn't make being alone easy. i've almost never been this run-down and miserable in my whole life but i can understand that different challenge and not degrade it. i don't think that empathy was ever there if you can't find it now.

this isn't even counting the people who desperately wanted a family but for various reasons could not have one. or people who, in some states, are barred from adoption. or people who have to go to work to support their kids bc they don't have a WFH job.

pandemics are hard! THIS IS ALL HARD. it's so hard, every fucking day, and there's so many people we lost and i can't sleep bc i keep thinking of how many deaths were preventable. why the fuck get on here and outsource the duty of tempering your own judgment? why add to that.

i dunno. I DUNNO! go cuddle your kids and understand that so many of the people who died of this horrible thing died in agony and alone regardless of how many children they brought into the world.

the pandemic is a fucking mirror.