Just Once

I once had a woman tell me that every woman should try motherhood once.

Um, I don't think so.

This suggestion, this advice, this idea was in direct response to me saying I had no interest in having a child, birthing, raising, or otherwise. Yet this woman approached the subject like I could try it out; if I didn't like it I could change my mind in twenty or so minutes. As if. A child is a child for life. Yours. Forever. Years and years and years and years and years. While I do have that kind of time, the notion of raising a child is, quite honestly, one of my biggest nightmares.

I have a counteroffer to women who think all women should give motherhood a go: every woman should sleep with another woman at least once. It's not nearly as time consuming as committing to a child. There is little to no commitment, in fact. If you don't like it, you really can change your mind twenty minutes into it. And you might find yourself enjoying it more than you thought.

Huh? Can't see yourself going there? Can't picture staring into another woman's vagina? Too much? Kicks up your gag reflex? Makes you sweat in weird places? You could receive but not give? A nipple in your mouth attached to a woman's breast makes you feel oddly gross? Too creepy? You couldn't relax enough to find it pleasurable? Downright terrifying?

Yeah. Tell me about it. It's exactly how I feel when I think about birthing and raising a child.