Dear friends,
This is the 697th post since I started this blog in 2007. Why didn’t I wait for 700? Impatient. Plus, I have finally gotten the first draft of “the Best of the Childless by Marriage blog” put together. It’s 700 pages! Serious editing will be needed to cut it to a reasonable 300. I don’t care so much about my posts as about the wonderful comments you all have contributed over the years. I just can’t include them all, so I’ll be pruning heavily.
Meanwhile, I have some questions for you.
* What should I title this thing? I can’t call it Childless by Marriage because I have already published a book by that name. I was going to title it “Stay or Go” because so much of the discussion here is about whether to leave a partner who won’t do parenthood with you, but that has been used recently by someone else (and it sounds like a good book). I assume whatever the title is, there will be a subtitle identifying it as the best of the Childless by Marriage blog. But I welcome your suggestions.
* I was thinking I would use the puppy picture on the cover to match the blog. Is that dumb or a good idea?
* Judging by the number of comments, the posts about whether or not to leave your partner and the ones about step-parenting draw the most heat, but what topics do you most want to read about? Which ones just don’t do it for you?
* Do you mind if I use your comments with no full real names, just whatever you called yourself, whether it’s Anonymous or R2D2? If you object, please let me know at sufalick@gmail.com.
* If you commented before, could you look back and see if you can give us an update so we know how things turned out? I suppose if you’re now busy with your babies, you won’t be reading this anymore, but if you are, is there any news to share?
A lot has certainly changed in our lives and in the world since I started this blog. I suspect the 2020 census will show that more and more people are delaying marriage and children well into their 30s and 40s and that more are not having children at all.
When I started this blog, very few people were publishing anything about childlessness, and most of the books were about infertility. Now we’ve got numerous wonderful authors with books and blogs on childlessness [see my resource list], and the conversation is opening up. But we have been having this conversation here for years. Do you realize that if we had had babies the year I started the Childless by Marriage blog, they would be teenagers now?
As I approach 700 posts, rest assured that I have no plans to stop blogging. The blog was originally designed to promote my book, but it has taken on a life of its own. Whenever I think everything has been said, something else comes along. So stick around. See you next Wednesday. Thank you for being here.
I welcome your comments.
Childless by Marriage 
Sue, I would just call it “the Best of the Childless by Marriage blog” because that’s what it is. I love puppies but for this book, I’d think a picture of an open book, an old-timey timer that you flip and salt pours the other way and then baby shoes might be good. You can print any of my comments. Another section might be misunderstandings of childless folks. Contrary to popular belief, many of us love kids!
LikeLike
Good stuff. Thank you, SilverShil0h.
LikeLike
Whaever you call it, please oh please have Childless in the title. This is how I found you. As for the picture, well I think your heart has already spoken to you. Do what you think fits the book. Best, JO JO from KOKOMO!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. Yes, for the search engines, I need to keep childless in the title.
LikeLike
You can use any of my comments under my blogging name, Loribeth. Re: Silver Shiloh’s comment about the title, how about “Childless by Marriage: The Best of the Blog.” (Just slightly different wording.) (Although title/headline writing has never been my forte…!)
I checked and you started blogging just a few months before I did… my blog will also be a teenager in October. 🙂 My situation is not quite the same as yours, but as Jody Day has said, there are many ways to be childless, and even if we come to this place from different directions, we still share a lot of common situations and emotions. I’ve loved reading your posts & will look forward to the book! 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you, Loribeth. I really appreciate your support, and the title suggestion sounds good. Pulling the posts and comments together is a lot of work, but I’m excited about making sense of it all. I’m frequently surprised by what gets a lot of comments and what doesn’t. The posts I think will light a fire just sit there while something that seems ordinary to me sets off a storm of comments. But it’s still fun.
LikeLike
I am happy for any of my comments to be quoted.
I’m not sure about your blog picture for the book. But I can’t immediately think of anything better. Perhaps it could be a part of the cover, alongside something like the timer suggested by SilverShil0h and an image of a person (a woman?). Hmm, i can see how this is tricky.
Well done of what you have achieved with this blog and pulling together the contributions for the book.
LikeLike
Thank you, Jenny. Yes, I’m rethinking the puppy picture. I had a terrible time coming up with a cover for the original Childless by Marriage book.
LikeLike