Okay, so this article called, "Five Things People Without Kids Should Never Say To People With Kids" popped up in my feed five times this morning. FIVE TIMES. Different people, none of them connected (and also no one who actually reads this blog, but never mind that).

I would just like to call b.s.

I get that having a kid is really, really hard. I get it. But there's a reward there that those of us without kids will never get. Never. No sticky baby kisses or tiny toes or graduations or weddings or any of that stuff. Maybe there are people out there who talk smack about moms, but I'm certainly not one of them. So stop complaining about how much harder your life is than mine, and how we childless people always give you crap. I would never say what you're doing is easy; I know it's rough, and I would never compare my struggles to yours. But I do have them, they're mine, and to me, they're difficult.

I give you major credit for raising teeny people; in fact, I think parents are pretty amazing beings, and I don't know how you do it. That just isn't my path. But don't assume that my childlessness is my way of silently judging you. I don't feel like any of us has a right to belittle another person's problems. 

I don't judge you on Mother's Day, when I have to leave the house in order to take my Mom someplace special to celebrate how awesome she is, and I have to hear either, "Hey there, Mom! Happy Mother's Day!" or,"How come you don't have kids?" a billion times. Seriously.

I don't judge you when strangers feel like they can comment on my lack of babies, or even people who know me say things like, "Oh, she doesn't like kids." (Total and complete lie, btw. I absolutely do. My reasons are way more complex and entirely none of anyone's business.)

I don't even judge you when it's Christmas and I get to see all of your beautiful pictures of kids happily opening fun presents from Santa and I know I'll never get to do that. It's not easy, guys. Sometimes the cute that pops up on my Facebook page is almost unbearable.

Yet, I never, not even once, made an attempt to compare my difficulties to yours.

I will gladly listen to you tell me how hard it is. I will gladly sympathize with your lack of sleep and total failure to make it through a movie without having to leave because someone peed his pants or started screaming because something random was scary. That sucks. And I get that it's hard.

But don't put down my life because of it.

Life is a terribly complicated thing. Nothing is simple, nothing is straightforward, and NOTHING is fair. We make the best choices we can, and move on from there. And I applaud you for choosing to share your life with those miniature insane people. They will grow up, it will get better, and you will sleep again. I will never put down your choice, and I will never compare my struggles to yours.

Try to think of that next time you feel offended by my lack of offspring, and for me daring to say that I ever have difficulties. Your life is yours, mine is mine, they're all tricky, and we should all support each other. Period.